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But, Cards!— Well, it is cards that has brought out the sporting blood in us.

JACK POTS

STORIKS OF THE GREAT
AMERICAN GAME

/
By EUGENE EDWARDS

can be played

but once a n/gAf

WITH OVER FIFTY ORIGINAL PEN AND INK
ILLUSTRATIONS BY

IKE MORGAN

I 900

JAMIESON-HIGGINS CO,

CHICAGO

TWO COPIES HiiO.£iV t.J>. ^

Library of Congr9i%
Office of tbe

r.fi^9 1900

Kagltter of Copyrl£fbt%

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JAMIESON-HIGGINS CO.

ScCJND COPY,

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. What is Poker? — Its Origin, and Why We Like It. 7
II. The Early Days of Poker — Steamboat Games —

A Mammoth Raise — Bowie's Good Deed 22

III. Poker in Washington — A Story of Henry Clay —

Cabinet Players — Mahone's Rule — When
Reed Was Called 36

IV. Poker in London and Paris — John Bull's Two

Pair — A Game with the Prince of Wales 53

V. Poker and Jurisprudence — Various Decisions by
Legal Luminaries — How the Judge Over-
ruled the Motion— The Sheriff Took the Pot.. 67
VI. All about Jack Pots — A $1,200,000 Jack — Didn't
Know Greenbacks — Won on Two Deuces — A

Boston Man's Narrow Escape 85

VII. The Scheme for a National Jack Pot— A Jack Pot

Without Cards 104

VIII. Women and Poker — Arguments to Show that They
Can't Play and a Story to Prove that They

Can 1 14

IX. Old Time Poker in the South— A Jack Pot of

Niggers — Colonel Rafael and His Honor 130

X. Poker and Hypnotism — A Young Man Who can.

Read Card.s — How Five Aces were Beaten —

The Man Who Laid Down a Straight Flush. . 148

XL A Life-long Game — The Great Morgan-Danielson

Betting Match — Four Hours to Open a Jack

Pot — Three Thousand Dollars for a Nap 160

XII. About Bluffing — $200,000 on a Pair of Tens — A
Bluff that Turned into a Flush — Major

Edwards and the Tenderfoot 174

6 CONTENTS

Chapter Page

XIII. Tom Custer's Luck— A Girl Makes the Best Draw

on Record — How a Town-site was Won on
Two Deuces — Lucky Baldwin's Big Play i8g

XIV. Six Cards in One Hand — Two Games wherein Six

Cards Figured — What Became of the Extra

One 204

XV. Poker in the Centennial State — Big Betting on
Small Hands — How Three Klondikers Played
Cards 217

XVI. Children and Poker — Too Much Frankness —
Daddy and Dinah — How the Tom Fool had

them "All Alike " 230

XVII. The Police and the Gamblers— A Down East
Selectman — A Bunko Game at Los Angeles —

Story of the Short-Card Man 245

XVIII. Superstitious Players — Queens and Tens — Louis
Laid them Down — Euchre and Poker — An
Old Story 259

XIX. Reminiscences of William Hurt, Reformed — John
Dougherty's Bet of Arizona Territory — His

Adventures in Persia 271

XX. How the Bear Spoiled the Jack Pot — Touching
Tale of a Dog that Tipped off Poker Hands
to His Master 2S4

XXI. Practical Joking — How the Dentist was Fixed —

The Fresh Baseball Reporter and the Players 294
XXII. Crooked Gambling — An Expert Explains the Mys-
teries of Second Card, Paper Men and Hold
Outs 308

XXIII. Classic Tales of Poker— The One-Eyed Man-

Origin of the Looloo — Four Kings as Bank
Collateral — Jay Gould as a Philanthropist 317

XXIV. The Poetry of Poker— Ditties, Wise and Other-

wise, about the Great National Game 335

JACK POTS.

CHAPTER I.

WHAT IS POKER ITS ORIGIN, AND WHY

WE LIKE IT.

All civilized nations love sport, but Americans
surpass all the world in that as in so many other re-
spects. That is because Americans are so little
conservative that they readily adopt all games
as their own. As in everything else, England is
shy of any but the customs that bear the mark of
her own breeding, and a game — out or indoor —
makes but slow progress in her affections. We have
been trying to introduce base ball into the
tight little island for twenty years, and although
we are told that there are clubs here and there
and hear dim rumors that some of the players are
crack-a-jacks, we never hear of any of our mag-
nates signing these phenoms, nor do we believe
there is in all Great Britain a boy who gets up in
the morning and makes a rush for the paper to see
the score before his father looks at it.

8 JACK POTS.

On the other hand, we have taken up cricket,
which is so essentially English that it takes three
days to play a match, and we have fairly gone daft
over the Scotch game of golf. The Indian game
of Lacrosse had quite a run a few years ago, and
even now occasionally sees the light on our north-
ern frontier, and we have even brought the game
of polo from far away India. If any nation has a
game that has in it the least element of attractive-
ness, let it be brought along and it will certainly be
given a respectful hearing.

But, cards ! — Well, it is cards that has brought
out the sporting blood in us. There are people
who will not believe this, and point to base ball.
They say ''Look at the thousands who attend a
game!" All right; look at them. Then consider
that the game only lasts for two hours and that
a big league city gets only fifty-seven games in an
entire season, if every scheduled game is played.
And then consider that the thousands of spectators
are not taking any actual part in the game ; they
are not playing. Apart from the boys, hundreds of
the spectators couldn't catch a fly ball with a net,
and for every man looking on there are a hundred
who are willing to simply read the account of the
game in the next morning's paper.

But cards w^e have with us always. There are
a few^ men who have never played cards in their
lives and for some inscrutable reason are proud of

WHAT IS POKER? 9

the fact, and a greater number who used to play
when they were boys but have no time for it now,
but the man who never in all his life fingered a pack
of cards is about as hard to find as the man who
never told a lie. Of course this would not have
held true thirty or forty years ago, when cards
were held up to scorn as the invention of the devil,
and all card players were placed but a shade above
a forger or pickpocket. We do not hear so much
of that wild talk nowadays.

In cards we are almost as radical as in out of
door sports. Faro, baccarat, rouge et noir, and
one or two others are decidedly foreign, and there
are more coming. Euchre is French, and seven-
up is our own. That is the country boy's game,
and many a hay mow has looked down on an ex-
citing game, when the old man had gone to town.
Euchre is the ladies' game because you can play it
any which way, and cheat and talk, and no one
will get very mad about it. Whist is never going to
be popular, no matter how many clubs are formed
or how many trophies are played for. There
is too much brain work about whist, pretty much
as in chess, and the ordinary man does not care
to expend more energy than would saw a cord of
wood for the sake of persuading himself that he
has had an hour's amusement. One reason whist
is played as much as it is, is owing to the idea in-
dustriously cultivated that the game is "respect-

lo JACK POTS.

able." Perhaps this is due to the fact that the
Queen of England plays whist, but she also drinks
Scotch whiskey, so that would hardly do to take
as an indorsement. In English novels the vicars
and curates always play whist, so that may be the
reason. At any rate the game is eminently "re-
spectable," and a lady never alludes to her last
visit to the whist club without a touch of con-
scious pride. It adds to her social standing, or she
thinks it does, which amounts to the same thing.

When you shuffle up all the games, however,
there is one that stands out before and beyond all
the others, like a lighthouse on the sea coast or
a water tank on a prairie, and that is POKER.

This is not a history, but it seems no more than
proper that a brief inquiry into the origin of the
game should be given place. It is claimed that it is
a descendant of the Spanish game of primero,
although the proof is not very clear. According
to the people who delve into such things, primero
was elaborated in France in the seventeenth cen-
tury into ambigu, in which the straight, the
straight flush, three of a kind, and four of a kind
were introduced. About this time a game called
post and pair, derived from primero, was played
in the West of England, and from this came brag,
on which Hoyle wrote a treatise in 175 1. In the
. game of brag, each player said ''I brag" as he
raised another player. Another authority claims

WHAT IS POKER? II

that poker is merely a variation from the Irish
game of spoil five.

If these explanations are true it is rather remark-
able that neither the Spanish, French, English or
Irish have a liking for the modern and
perfected game. Of course we know how
cordially Europeans detest innovations, but
that would mean that they would cling to
primero or ambigu, but they do not. In
spite of all temptations to belong to other nations
we must insist that poker is a thoroughly American
game, so much so that it has never taken root out-
side of this country, nor even in Canada, except
close to the border. General Schenck, our Minis-
ter to England years ago,- is credited with an at-
tempt to introduce it into that country for the de-
lectation of the natives, but what he really did was
to write a little manual of the game to relieve him-
self of the necessity of answering a thousand of in-
dividual questions. It was a passing craze, and we
cannot flatter ourselves that the great American
game has taken any hold of our British cousins. It
is a pity 'tis true, because they don't know what
they are missing. The Prince of Wales is the sporty
boy of the English speaking people, and if he had
been properly inoculated he would have set the
fashion and then there w^ould have been a grand
opening for an international show down. But
he is too old a dog to learn new tricks, and now

12 JACK POTS.

we will have to wait for the Duke of York. The
fact that he' is married and settled makes no dif-
ference, as it is a notorious fact that married men
make the best poker players.

Therefore we may say with truth that America
monopolizes the game of poker, and it certainly is
the game that best fits our national character. To
be a good poker plaj^jer requires nerve, and we have
that to perfection. It requires money, and we have
more than any other nation. It is a draft on the
physical strength, and we are strong; the players
must have brains, and there is where we lead the
world.

In addition to this it is such a simple game to
learn. Anyone who knows how to play euchre
or seven-up can be taught the game of poker in
a half hour — and then spend the rest of his life
in learning it. That is the main beauty of the
game — you think you know it all after you have
played ten hands and then after a hundred seances
you begin to realize that there is something for you
to learn. There is so much human nature in it,
and human nature is so complex.

From these statements one would think that
Germans could play the game to perfection but
the fact that they don't shows that they can't. The
German is stolid, but he is too stolid. Chess just
suits him ; it is a game where he can take an hour
to a move, and everybody that looks on thinks he

WHAT IS POKER? 13

is" thinking. Of course the players have to think
in poker, and theoretically the player is allowed
to take his own time, but if he takes more* than the
fraction of a minute somebody is apt to make a
few remarks.

Then there is the Frenchman. He is lively and
vivacious, is apt to back his opinions with a wager
and has none of the stolidity of the German, but
he can't play poker. He is too excitable, he talks
too much, he wants to gabble over the hands that
have been played, and quick as he is, the game is
too fast for him.

You might think that the Englishman would
make the model poker player, but he doesn't. It
w^ould be all right if it wasn't for the bluffing part.
Where the cards play themselves the Englishman
is there every time, and he is a fine loser, but he
can't get it through his hair that a man can win on
the poorest hand through sheer force of nerve.

In every other game the cards practically play
themselves, but in poker the man plays the cards.

For a crowd there is not a finer game on earth
than faro on the square, but after all it is mere
chance. Systems don't amoui.t to air^^thing; the
system player is always broke, and the mjn that
shuts his eyes and claps down his chips at random
is just as liable to w^in as the man who has followed
faro for years. You can't bluff; skill and experi-
ence count for nothing; you are playing against

JACK POTS.

a box that has no feelings to betray its contents,
and after you have bucked up against it for ten
years y«u know no more than the man who has just
been introduced to the layout.

Then, unlike all other games, poker never ends.
When the hock card is in sight in faro, that is the
end of the deal; euchre and seven-up, and every
other game has a certain number of points and that
settles it, but a poker game can go on forever. The
hundredth deal around does not differ from the
first and a new player can come in at any stage of

the game, and have just the
same chance as the man who
has been sitting in all
night. However,
looked at in an-
other light, per-
haps that is one
of the drawbacks.
The man who is
behind does not
want to quit,
and the man w^ho
is ahead is

• Hello! It's Eleven, boys."' ashauicd tO pull

out, and between these tw'o feelings the game
sometimes drags on until the players have to
quit through sheer weariness.

It is amusing to see some coteries making up

WHAT IS POKER? 15

their minds to limit the game. They sit down and
unanimously agree that they will not play a minute
after 11 p. m., because — well, for a whole lot of
reasons. When 1 1 p. m. comes along, it is let slide
by, and then at about half past eleven some one
says: "Hello! it's eleven, boys." Then they agree
to play one more round, and when that is done,
it is suggested that there be a round of jack pots.
After about six rounds of jack pots, then there is
one or two rounds of something else, and the end
of it is that the gathering scatters nearer to i a. m.
than 1 1 p. m. The only remedy for this sort of
thing is to have one of the players' wives send after
him, or for one man to get all the chips.

A good poker player would make a good actor.
He is compelled to do a lot of acting during a long
game. There are a few men who are gifted with
faces that have about as much expression as a lump
of dough and who never raise or lower their voices.
It takes a heap of luck to beat that kind of a man.
and most anybody would sooner play against a fel-
low wdio ripped and tore around occasionally. It is
a study to see the face of a man w^ho has just drawn
a filler to two pairs. As he picks up the cards ana
sees that it is just wdiat he wants, an expression of
deep gloom or utter disgust settles on his coun-
tenance, which then subsides into a state of resig-
nation, as if he might have know^n that he w^as too
unlucky to catch anything worth having. He ap-

1 6 JACK POTS.

pears to be depressed and he sees the other fellow
fingering the chips, and it is with the greatest re-
luctance he sees the bet and just lifts it one or two,
making the muttered remark that his hand can't
be beaten all the time. It is only when he makes
the final raise that he comes from behind the mask,
and the other fellow^ realizes that he has been lured
on to destruction. Happy is the man that can
play a full house and a pair of fours in exactly the
same way — he has a fortune at his finger ends.

It is this acting and pretence and chafif that
makes the game so delightful, and when these
frillings are absent one might as well play chess.
It is only a quarter of the fun to play the cards, the
rest is in playing the players. And what a school
of control it is ! OfBcers in the army and navy are
always capital players because they are taught to
restrain their tempers and emotions in the line of
duty until it becomes second nature to them.
Look at Admiral Dewey's face and see a crack po-
ker player. Note the square jaw, the immobile
lips and dreamy indifferent eyes that seem to say
*'I haven't a pair in my hand, and I'm only waiting
for you to chuck in a chip and you can have the
pot." And then, without a change of countenance
you can see him elevate the pot until you wouldn't
call him under fours.

The man who loses his temper in a poker game
will also lose his money. He will always be called

WHAT IS POKER? i7

when he bluffs, and when he gets a big hand he
will never get the value of it, because no one will
buck against him for fear of offending him by beat-
ing the hand. If he doesn't enjoy losing his money
he should affect indifference, or he is allowed to
indulge in sarcastic remarks, provided they are
witty as well. Nor does it do any harm to sympa-
thize with a loser if you are ahead. When he comes
to think it over afterwards, he w411 know that you
didn't mean it, but it does him good at the time.
There is another beauty about the game of poker
that I almost forgot to mention. The amount of
the stake has nothing to do with the pleasure of
the game. I don't mean to say that a high roller
who has been in the habit of making it ten dollars
to draw cards every time could calmly contemplate
five cent ante with a fifty cent limit with the same
crowd, but take him out of the environment and he
could. I have played penny ante with a ten cent
limit, and found myself getting hot around the
collar when I had a flush beaten for thirty cents.
When the pot has been fattened by two or three
raises before the draw and everybody is in, the
.excitement is something tremendous when every-
body stays, and the limit is bet the first crack. No,
I'm not the least ashamed of it. The three other
men could have lost ten thousand at a sitting and
never felt it, but they wanted to play poker just for
the fun of it, with no hard feelings afterwards. But

1 8 JACK POTS.

that is true about the way you feel, and I suppose
is pretty much on the principle of hunting ; the boy
who is out after rabbits feeling his heart beat as
high as the man in the jungle lying in wait for a
tiger.

The "draw" in poker is an addition to the origi-
nal game. At first it was played ''straight," that
is, you got five cards and had no chance to better
your hand. Once in a very long while you may
hear of straight poker being played, but it is more
for the novelty than because it is liked. The draw
IS certainly the life of poker. There are such vast
possibilities in it; so many utterly barren hands
have blossomed into life under the influence of the
draw that the player is constantly being buoyed
up with hope. He is in the depths of despair in-
deed when he throws up his cards and won't draw
to a little pair when there has been a raise. To
do that and then look and see 'Svhat you would
have got," and find that you would have had the
winning hand, is one of the moments of anguish
few can bear without wincing.

Innovations in poker have been many, and it
would need a special chapter to describe them all,.
but the only one that has met with universal favor
is the jack pot. First introduced as a varient, it
spurred up many a lagging game, and made an
always exciting wind up to a night's performance.
From this it naturally progressed to jack pots on

WHAT IS POKER? 19

any provocation, and finally on none at all — that is,
the game became one of all jack pots. This comes
under the head of the things that if you like them
they are just the things you like. The main objec-
tion to jack pots is that they are apt to prove too
expensive for small wads. While it is true that you
can play even on a couple of jack pots, it is also
true that you can go broke with equal facility, as
you must come in on every deal until some one
opens the pot, and then maybe you can't come in at
all. But, as revolutions never go backw^ard, the
jack pot and its brothers are here to stay.

Here it may be noted that it is only within the
last twenty years that straights have been played in
the Western States. And, of course, if straights
weren't played neither was the straight flush, so
that four aces was an absolutely sure thing. The
introduction of the straight flush was a good thing
because it took away the sure thing element, and it
allows a man to bet on four aces with a clear con-
science. It doesn't seem so much like highway
robbery when you know there is about one chance
ill ten thousand that your opponent has a straight
flush against your aces, although you would be
paralyzed if he had.

As said before — several times before, perhaps —
this is no history of poker, with the dates and the
names of the men who introduced this or that, and
when they did it ; neither is it an attempt to teach

20 JACK POTS.

anyone the game, which no one has ever yet done
on paper or ever will; but it may incidently
straighten out some controversial points over
which men pull guns occasionally in certain locali-
ties, and in other places get black in the face talk-
ing over them.

There is no harm, however, in putting down
here, for the benefit of the reader who has only
heard about poker and never played it, the rank of
the playing hands, so that he may see how exceed-
ingly simple the game is. They run thus :

High card.

One pair.

Two pairs.

Threes.

Straight.

Flush.

Full hand.

Fours.

Straight flush.

Suit makes no difference; that is, a flush of
hearts is no better than clubs or any other suit;
only the rank of the cards is considered. Nor have
I put down here all innovations, such as kilters,
drags, blazes, and many others which are played
in various localities, because you have to learn
them when you run up against the men who play
them, and that is time enough.

However this is enough to enable those who

WHAT IS POKER? 21

laugh the loudest at a minstrel poker joke to oc-
casionally have some perception as to what they are
laughing- at. It is a cold fact that the man who is
away u]) on poker generally preserves a stony
silence while the end man is describing his tribula-
tions with four aces ; it is the other fellow who has
his girl with him that is convulsed with merriment.
It is a good play ; it makes her think he is a devil of
a fellow when out of her sight.

However, that's neither here nor there. Here
goes.

CHAPTER 11.

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER STEAMBOAT GAMES

A MAMMOTH RAISE BOWIE's GOOD DEED,

We do not think that there is any raih'oad in
this country where card playing is forbidden in its
coaches, but in the East and North gambUng is not

tolerated. Of
course, if two or
more players are
willing to put up
so much a corner,
and keep the cash
out of sight, that
is their business
and the conduc-
tor cannot very
well interfere, but
such a thing as
pla y i n g with
chips or money in
sight would be called down in short order. In the
West and South affairs are on an easier basis, and
on many roads card betting is an every day affair,
and creates no remark except from those inti-
mately concerned. It is not so long ago since gangs
of professional gamblers regularly worked all the

Playing with chips or money in sight would
be called down.

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER. 23,

trains west of the Mississippi River, with every im-
aginable device to deceive the unwary. So openly
was this done — and is still done on some roads—
that it conveyed an impression that the train hands
stood in with the sharpers, and got a whack at the
spoil. cl»wm)1 ^ :\ > \ - ....' . r

That, however, is not a necessary sequence. The
conductors and brakemen do not perhaps feel any
great sympathy for the victims, because they ought
to know enough to keep out of games with
strangers after all the warnings that have been pub-
lished. But the train hands would interfere, were
it not for the fact that they would get small thanks
from the suckers they saved and on the other hand
stand a chance of being assaulted by the sharpers.
So long as there is no rule of the company against
the practice, the train hands are justified in suppos-
ing that the passengers know enough to protect
themselves.

But, gambling in its palmiest days on the rail-
roads never began to touch the days when steam-
boats were the chief means of inter-state travel.
Before railroads criss-crossed the country in every
direction, the two main arteries of travel were the
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Practically there was
no west or northwest before 1850, and the Ohio
and Mississippi filled the bill for south, southwest
and the middle section.

Those were the davs before the war when cotton

24 JACK POTS.

was king. In those days the Southerners had lots
of money and spent it freely. As a rule they did
not even wait until the cotton was raised and baled,
they mortgaged their crops in advance, and if
money ran too short there was always a slave or
two that could be disposed of at fancy figures.

The boats were nothing like the floating palaces
such as now run on river and lake, but they were
considered grand affairs for those days, and no
doubt were comfortable enough, certainly more so
for a three or four days journey than a railway
coach is to-day. Here could be seen a group of
men with broad straw hats, duck or linen suits of
ample cut, sallow faces, fierce mustaches and keen
eyes; men who were addicted to mint juleps and
other fancy drinks ; who were suave in speech and
extravagantly polite, and who always carried re-
volvers and knives which they used on small pro-
vocation.

To such, card playing came as natural as drink-
ing and they did more of each than eating or sleep-
ing. It was nothing unusual for an open game to
be run in the saloon all day and night from the
time the boat left the wharf on the upper river until
she landed at her destination. Private coteries were
made up and played twenty-four hours at a stretch,
the deck hands had their games at intervals and the
pilot at the wheel took a hand when he was off
duty. In short, everybody played or looked on,

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER. 25

ready to play at the first chance, if they had the
money. Among friends, notes or I O U's would
go, but in an open game only money counted, and
it was "put up or shut up."

Here was the paradise of the professional poker
player, and no boat was without its complement.
They passed all their time traveling up and down
the river, cheating when they had an opportunity,
and playing a square game when they must. As
a rule, they knew their men, and did not attempt
any tricks on the planters who could lose a fortune
without a murmur, but who would carve a man
into bits at the least suspicion of foul play. They
w^ere loaded with money and won many a hand on
a bluff, where the game was without limit. If a
man demanded a sight for his money he might get
it, but the game would end right there. Generally
the man kept on until he had up every cent in the
world, and sometimes even the most reckless
Southern high roller would not hesitate to risk five
thousand on a pair of fives.

Sometimes these gentry were beaten at their
own game in this respect. On one occasion an
army paymaster was traveling down the Ohio and
dropped into a friendly game with three gentle-
manly sharpers, and incidently dropped about five
hundred dollars before he knew where he w^as at.
About the same time he realized that he was up
against it, and he settled down to get even.

26 JACK POTS.

Being an excellent player, he held his own for
awhile, and even got a little ahead. His opponents
soon saw that the ordinary methods of cheating
would not answer with this man, so they resorted
to crowding him out of every good pot by a sys-
tem of raising each other. He tumbled to that
plan also, but could make no objection, and bided
his time. Presently it came.

It w^as his deal, so he felt morally certain that it
was fair, and he dealt himself three queens. The
age on his left lifted the ante, his chum helped it
along and the pot was pretty fat when cards were
drawn. The paymaster did not help his hand, but,
as he said afterwards he felt sure that it was the
best out. Then the betting began.

The man next the age bet ten dollars; the next
man raised it fifty; the paymaster called, and the
age raised another fifty. In turn he was lifted a
hundred, the next man ^raised a hundred and the
paymaster called again, only to be again raised by
the age. This sort of thing went on until it be-
came perfectly evident to the paymaster as well as
the onlookers that the paymaster was not to be
allowed to call.

This merry little game of freeze out went on
until there was $2,600 on the table, and then at a
preconcerted signal no doubt, the age raised
five hundred, the next man saw the five hundred
and raised it a thousand, and the third man saw
both raisers and lifted it five thousand.

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER.

The paymastei' looked on in apparent sur-
prise.

"Sixty-five hundred?" he said, inquiringly.

'That's what," replied the age briefly. Then he
added, as if overcome with disappointment, 'T
guess that lets me out."

The paymaster sized up the situation. The
money up represented the combined capital of the
gang, and if he drew out,
the raise would not be
called, and the five-thousand
dollar man would
b e allowed t o
walk off with the
pot without a
show down, and
the sharpers
would whack up when they went
ashore. He put in about two
minutes in some mighty heavy
thinking.

uc 1 >) 1 'tit A^ Now I'D give you fifteen

bee here, he said at length, minutes to raise the money.
w-ri ' ,1 1 •, T 1 or the pot's mine.

ihis rather hits me. I have
the money to call, but I don't want to risk it all on
one hand, as I tell you honestly I can't afford to
lose it. Couldn't you cut down the pot and give
me a show."

''I could but I won't," replied the five-thousand
dollar man, with cool insolence. "You knew this

28 JACK POTS.

game was without limit when you came in.
Now I'll give you just fifteen minutes to raise the
money, or the pot's mine." .

The paymaster turned to a tall, grave man stand-
ing by the table, a well known horse dealer, and an
old player.

*'Is that right, Mr. Shaw?" he asked.

"I am sorry to say it is," was the reply. ''At the
same time," he added, significantly, ''if you suspect
any crooked work" — .

"No, no," said the paymaster, hastily. "I only
wanted to know my rights in this afiFair. Fifteen
minutes, you said?"

"Yes; and no more."

During the entire game a young well dressed
man had been standing near the paymaster, watch-
ing with evident anxiety the progress of the game.
It was his clerk, although no one knew^ of their re-
lations and to the clerk the paymaster now turned
and said, "Charley, go to my state room and bring
me my valise."

The clerk who had been very red now turned
pale, and made an efifort to speak, but was silenced
with an imperative wave of the hand. He went
away and when he returned and placed a bulky
valise by the paymaster's knee, he was trembling
in every limb.

By this time the tension was tremendous. Every
eye was fixed on the paymaster, and the gamblers

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER. 29

began to realize that something was going to hap-
pen that boded them no good. The paymaster
opened the bag, and took out package after pack-
age of crisp banknotes and laid them on the. table.

"Now, gentlemen," he said, pleasantly, ''since
you insist upon playing without limit I am obliged
to acquiesce. I will see your sixty-five hundred
and raise you fifty thousand !"

Two of the gamblers gave vent to an involuntary
cry of surprise, while the third fell back in his chair
with white face and clenched lips. The paymaster
put his hand in a casual way in his breast pocket,
his clerk did the same, and Mr. Shaw moved a step
nearer the table. But the gamblers were in no
mood for violence, especially as they saw no sym-
pathy in the eyes of the spectators.

The paymaster pulled out his watch, and in a
tone as insolent as the other had assumed, said :

'T'll give you just fifteen minutes to see the raise,
or ril take the pot."

The three men looked at each other in mute de-
spair. There wasn't a station within ten miles and
not a man on the boat that would have let them
have fifty thousand on four aces under the circum-
stances. They sat in moody silence for fifteen
minutes, as if hoping that the money would drop
through the roof, and at the end of that time, arose
and walked away with as much indifference as they
could assume. At the first landing they got off

30 JACK POTS.

and the paymaster packed his money back in the
vaHse. It was Uncle Sam's money to pay troops,
and if he had lost it, he had determined to kill
himself; as it was he determined to never again
play poker with strangers — at least, without a
Hmit.

Another anecdote of the river days of long ago
brings to view a character that could hardly exist
now and be famous in the same way. The scene
is laid on the steamer Orleans, running between
Natchez and New Orleans in the fall of 1832.

A young man of Natchez, going North in sum-
mer on his wedding trip, had been commissioned
by a number of merchants and planters in his
neighborhood to collect various accounts due them
in New York and other places which he proposed
to visit. The young man was the soul of honor,
but not very strong in resolution; in fact, he was
rather an easy mark if worked in the proper way.

Unfortunately this became known to the ring of
gamblers who were working the rivers, and they
laid their plans accordingly. Some of their mem-
bers made his acquaintance in New York, and
learned that he would return South by way of
Pittsburg, where he was to take the boat for Louis-
ville, and after spending a few days there, take an-
other boat for New Orleans that stopped at
Natchez. In pursuance of the plan, one of the
gang met him on the boat at Pittsburg and intro-

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER. $1

duced him to two alleged Louisiana planters who
made themselves quite agreeable. On the way
down to Louisville, several friendly games of poker
were played, in all of which the young man came
out a little ahead, so that he was in high good
humor when they got ready to pluck him in ear-
nest, which was on board the Orleans.

The game was played with a short deck of thirty-
two cards, the same as a euchre deck, which of
course was conducive to holding fat hands in al-
most every deal, and led to high betting. The
three confederates worked the cross lifting trick
on the victim, together with an occasional bit of
cheating, until the poor fellow had but a few thou-
sands left when the boat neared Vicksburg, where
it was the sharpers' intention to give him the shake.
The poor fellow was already nearly crazed w^ith
his losses, realizing that he was not only ruined but
dishonored, and his yoimg wife was in terrible dis-
tress over this unlooked for termination of their
honeymoon. Yet he kept on playing on the des-
perate chance of redeeming his money.

When the boat was within a half day's run of
Vicksburg there came on board a tall man with a
smooth shaven face, who looked like a preacher,
and he with others stood looking at the game in
the men's cabin. x\t midnight the last dollar of the
dupe had been raked in, and rising from the table,
he rushed wildlv to the side of the vessel, and was

JACK POTS.

only prevented by his wife's arms from throwing
himself overboard.

Suddenly the clerical looking man made his ap-
pearance by the side of the distracted wife, and

said, quietly, 'Take

him to your cabin,
and watch h i m
closely until I re-
turn."

Going back to the
cabin where the
gamblers were hav-
ing a hilarious time
at the bar, the stran-
ger drew out an im-
mense roll of notes,
and asked the bar-
tender to change a
hundred dollar bill.

Was only prevented by his wife's arms from ^ ^ ^^^^ "-^ Oblige

throwing himself overboard. VOU but I Cau't "

was the reply. '' Perhaps some of these gentlemen
can do it."

One of the gamblers very readily made the de-
sired change, and also invited the stranger to have
a drink. They soon fell into conversation, and it
was not long until a game of poker was proposed,
and after some demur the stranger consented.

The ante was five dollars, and as there was al-

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER. 33

ways a straddle, it rarely cost less than forty dol-
lars to play, and the betting" ran rather high. The
stranger managed to keep a little ahead of the
game until near morning, and then came the
crucial hand.

The pot was fattened up to nearly five hundred
dollars before the draw, and then the betting was
fast and furious. Finally two ol the players
dropped out, leaving only a big whiskered fellow
and the stranger. As the bets rose by thousands
the gambler's face began to assume an anxious
look, while the other was pale and cool, rather
sleepy in fact, although he never took his eyes off
his adversary's hands.

At last more than seventy thousand dollars
were piled up on the cloth, and the stranger said
quietly, "I call you." Then he added sharply:
*'One moment, please." He laid his cards face up
on the table, disclosing four kings and a ten. 'This
is poker, and five cards constitute a hand. If you
can show four aces, and no more than five cards
in your hand, the pot is yours. But," and here,
with a sudden movement he drew from his coat a
long and keen knife, ''if you have more or less than
five cards I will kill you where you sit."

The gambler held his cards in his hands in front
of him, and it was noticed that they trembled per-
ceptibly. The stranger held the deadly knife in
his hand, and although he was still pale, and his

JACK POTS.

voice had not been raised above its usual tones,
his eyes glowed like fire, and he looked like an
avenging demon. All three gamblers were armed,
but none made a movement to draw a weapon, and
they sat there for a minute the very pictures of
baffled villainy.

''Come," said the stranger, smoothly. "Your
hand has been called; what have you got? Don't

take your hands
out of sight ; show
down the cards
just as they are."
The gambler
wavered, looked
at his compan-
ions furtively and
saw no encour-
agement in their
faces, and then
with a muttered curse, threw
his hand into the deck. The
stranger with his left hand
took off his large felt hat, swept the money into it,
and clapped it on his head, keeping the knife in his
right hand all the time.

"Now, gentlemen," he said, suavely, 'T am
going to restore the money you have robbed to
the victim. It is fortunate for you," he added, turn-
ing to his opponent, "that you did not disclose

But! and here, with a sudden
movement he drew from his
coat a long and keen knife.

THE EARLY DAYS OF POKER. 35

your hand with its four aces, because it had six
cards, and you wouldn't have been ahve now. The
next time you fleece a gentleman learn to have
more mercy."

As he turned to go after this little lecture, one
of the gamblers cried: ''Who the devil are you?"

"James Bowie," was the answer.

The voice was like velvet, but the sharpers
jumped as if shot. Bowie was known from one end
of the river to the other, and it was a surprising
chance that he had not been recognized by any one
in the cabin. But the name was enough ; the gam-
blers shrank away from this dreaded man who,
without another glance, made his way to the cabin
where the wife was still trying to soothe her hus-
band's grief.

Bowie emptied the contents of his hat before the
astounded pair, and in a few minutes the young
man was in possession of all that he had lost.

"Now, my dear sir," said the noted duellist, "let
me advise you as a man of the world to never
touch another card. You see how nearly it has
brought you to shame ; believe me it can never
bring you happiness. Before I leave you, let me
have your sworn promise."

The young man took the oath with tears in his
eyes, and then begged that his benefactor accom-
pany him home, but Bowie refused, and at the first
landing place, got off the boat, and they never saw
him afterward.

CHAPTER III.

POKER IN WASHINGTON A STORY OF HENRY^ CLAY

CABINET PLAYERS MAHONE'S RULE

WHEN REED WAS CALLED.

Washington is popularly regarded as the great
poker center of the United States, and there are
many reasons for the belief. There is a feverish
air about Washington life that conduces to card
playing. Public office is largely a game of chance
in this country, despite the strides made by the
Civil Service, and the man who goes to Washing-
ton in an official capacity feels that he will be there
to-day and home to-morrow. Very few of the thou-
sands of clerks regard their places as more than
temporary until they have been there at least five
years, and by that time they have contracted habits
of careless spending that they can hardly throw off.

Then there comes every two years to the na-
tion's capital a number of new congressmen who
feel flushed with wealth on a salary of five thou-
sand a year. Many of them could not earn half
that sum at their occupation, and especially as the
money comes easily they fritter away a great deal
of it in dissipation. To these classes are to be
added the diplomatic corps, many of the attaches
being young bloods sent abroad for the good of

POKER IN WASHINGTON. 37

the family, and they have nothing to do with their
salaries but to spend them in good living, and that
includes card playing. In addition, when Congress
is in session, the whole town is in a fever of excite-
ment, and the easiest way to work off the surplus
steam is with a pack of cards.

Washington is full of poker stories, because
from all accounts, every administration, at least
from Jackson's down, indulged in the game. Lin-
coln didn't ; he was of too serious mood to care for
the game; and of course, Hayes wouldn't touch a
card; although there is reason to think that he
knew something about the game. Arthur was a
splendid player; Garfield, only fair. Cleveland's
cabinet was full of poker players; and — although
you wouldn't think it to look at his grave and al-
most solemn features — Gresham was king of them
all. Carlisle is a shrewd player but lacks nerve —
that is, he can't bluff 'successfully.

It doesn't sound likely, but they say that Cleve-
land did not learn to play poker until he came to
Washington. He went off on one of his famous
duck hunting expeditions with Gresham and Car-
lisle, and when he came back he had been inocu-
lated. After that he took a hand whenever the
opportunity offered, but he always played a small
game ; rarely winning or losing more than ten dol-
lars at a sitting. Dan Lamont used to play heavily
before he got into public life, but w^hen he saw the
possibilities he dropped poker. ,

JACK POTS.

Going back to the old timers, practically all of
the congressmen before the war played poker, and
did not try to conceal it as they do now. Henry
Clay was a famous player, and won a fortune in
his time. There is a funny story about Clay that
illustrates the character of the man.

There was in Washington an old darkey whom
Clay had befriended, a poor fellow who had quite

a reputation
among his people
as a preacher.
One day as the
great Kentucky
senator was
strolling down
Pennsylvania Av-
enue, the old fel-
low tackled him.
It was on Sunday

mornmg.

B o b,"
'you're

"Well,
said he,
up early."

''Y e s, Marse
Henry; de airly
bird ketches de
worm."
''Oh, you are worm hunting, are you?"
"No, Marse Henry," said the old fellow, sol-
emnly, "TsQ lookin' for help for my little church."

Bob, here is fifty dollars that I won at
poker last night.

POKER IN WASHINGTON. 39

"I won't give you a cent," said Clay, decidedly.
"I gave you something only last week for your
church."

"Yes, Marse Henry, so you did; and dat," rais-
ing his eyes piously, ''dat's a treasure laid up for
you in Hebben."

''Oh, is it?" said the Senator, smiling. Then he
pulled out of his pocket a roll of bills, and con-
tinued. "Bob, here is fifty dollars I won at po-
ker last night. Now, if you can reconcile it with
your conscience to use money got in that way
for church purposes, take it along."

Old Bob bowed and pulled his cap.

^'Sarvant, Marse Henry; thankee, sah. God do
move in a musterious way his wonders to per-
form."

x-\nd he walked ofi. with the money.

Another Kentucky man, a senator, although not
from that State, says that his seat there and all he
has besides is due to a poker game, and tries to
prove it with the following story.

''I was born and bred in old Kentucky, and
strange as it sounds, it was in a highly moral town
where games of chance were not tolerated. It was
no use bucking against the law; no matter what
the position in life of the offender, if he was caught
gambling up he went. But of course there was
gambling, and the very lawyers and judges that en-
forced the law would take every opportunity to
have a quiet game,

40 JACK POTS.

"One night, during a June term of court, the
judge and visiting lawyers arranged for a game,
and as it would never do to make such a venture in
the hotel, a flatboat moored at the foot of the levee
was pitched upon as an ideal place. Jt was supposed
that it would be out of sight and hearing of the
moral little burg.

"Accordingly that night two tables were set up
in the cabin, and nine members of the legal profes-
sion were bending over the game with all the na-
tive ardor of Kentucky gentlemen. It was about
this time that I, in company with a friend, strolled
in the vicinity of the flatboat. I was about twenty
years of age and had no money, and my friend was
on a par.

''On discovering the old folks thus engaged a de-
sire to be humorous swept over us. We were law
students ; they were full fledged, and that was rea-
son enough for the joke. We cast off the boat,
and silently she drifted away on the dark bosom
of the river. The grave and reverend gamesters
drew and filled and straddled, until along about two
o'clock in the morning, and then Colonel Bugg
concluded he had better quit, and look over his
brief for next day. The gallant old fellow put on
his hat, bade every one good night, walked off
where he thought the gang plank ought to be —
and w^alked into twenty feet of water !

"Of course there was a howl for help, and he

POKER IN WASHINGTON.

was fished out with considerable difficulty. Then
the startling discovery was made that the boat
was twenty miles down stream. The whoops and
yells of the voy-
agers finally
brought a tug to
the rescue, and
they were towed
back to town —
only to find the
town officers
waiting to run in
the whole party.
In the frank en-
thusiasm of youth
we had related
our doings, and
there was no es-
cape from the
stern rule of jus-
tice.

'There was a
terrible row over the affair. Publicly we were com-
mended, privately we were threatened with death
by the gentlemen we had betrayed, and we knew
that some of them would shoot on sight. We took
counsel of our fears, and lit out for the West.

'That was forty-five years ago. My partner in
villainy is now a United States Judge, and I am

Walked off where he thought the gang
plank ought to be.

42 JACK POTS.

a Senator. We often discuss the past, and we lay
everything to that flatboat poker game."
^ When General Mahone held Virginia in his vest
pocket he was a figure in Washington poker cir-
cles. He was cool and nervy, and withal played
poker Hke a gentleman.

Once he was in a game at Chamberlin's, which
included several Senators, and nobody was winning
or losing very much ; in fact the game was rather
slow which probably suggested what follows. A
deal was just beginning where Mahone was the
age, and the General had anted when a waiter
called him from the room to speak to some gentle-
man who wanted to see him.

As he closed the door behind him the Western
Senator who was dealing remarked :

''Let's put up a joke on Mahone. I'll deal him

three queens on the go-off and fix up B next

him with a straight flush, and then let Mahone get
another queen in the draw. I'd like to see how
long and how hard the General will bet four
queens. Of course we can give the money back
afterwards."

The others thought this a good joke, and the
hands were fixed up accordingly. Everybody had
picked up his hand when the General came back,
and as he took his seat and reached for his cards,
the dealer remarked, ''Hurry up, General, we're
waiting for you."

POKER IN WASHINGTON. 43

General Mahone looked at his hand, discarded,
and said: ''Give me one card."

The dealer gave the General the fourth queen

which lay on the top of the deck, and gave B

next to him one card — the diamond he was after.

And then they all leaned back to see B and the

General buck each other, and to hear what the
General would say when he lost on four queens.

It was B 's first bet, and he threw down a

white chip. Of course everybody was confident
the General would raise him. That was where they
were disappointed. To their amazement, and with-
out a moment's hesitation, without a word of com-
ment or any gesture that would indicate either sur-
prise or disgust, Mahone threw his hand into the

discard, and as nobody had bet against B he

took in the little pot without opposition.

Mahone then reached for the deck and pro-
ceeded to calmly shuf^e the cards for the next deal.
The others looked at each other in surprise, and the
Senator who had put up the hands, said with a
laugh :

"B , you had better give the General his

ante."

Then they all laughed, while Mahone betrayed
mild surprise.

''Why didn't you bet your four queens?" asked
another player. "Did you suspect a joke or think
some one was trying to rob you?"

44 JACK POTS.

"No, sir," replied General Mahone, with perfect
gravity, "I have the utmost confidence in the hon-
esty of every gentleman present, and I haven't the
remotest idea that any one of you would rob me,
but I make an inflexible rule to never bet a high
hand when I have been absent through the deal.
To be out of the room and then to return and pick
up three queens and get a fourth on a one card
draw is to me very alarming. So, of course, I
threw my hand in the discard."

**Well, General," said the Senator who dealt the
cards, ''it was a joke, and I must compliment you
on the manner in which you received it. It showed,
sir, that you are a Southern gentleman, and was
complimentary alike to yourself and to us."

Then they called in a couple of cold bottles, and
the game went on.
%/ Ex-Speaker Reed used to relax on poker once
in a while, but he was very moderate, and they say
in Washington that he never raised more than fifty
cents in his hfe. He was also noted for never win-
ning anything, but takes his ill fortune with cool
good nature.

On one occasion at the Shoreham a small game
was raging with great fury, and by some miracle
Reed managed to capture a nine full. He saw /
visions of fortune before him, especially as Riley of
Pennsylvania^^a man who would bet a quarter
without a quiver — showed a disposition to dispute

POKER IN WASHINGTON.

the pot with him. So he went diHgently to work to
raise Riley. And the reckless Riley on his part
invariably raised the Speaker, without any rev-
erence whatever.

So they kept see-sawing until the total of the
wealth on the green cloth must have equalled six
dollars. At last
Reed called, and
to his disgust
Riley laid down a
queen full. As he
spread the cards
out on the table,
Reed peered over
them with much
the same air tliat
he used to employ
to count the

House on a rismg He saw visions of fortunes before him.

vote, and then as

he settled back in his chair, he drawled forth dis-
gustedly that formula wherewith the Speaker an-
nounces that a call for the ayes and noes has been
voted.

"Clearly a sufficient number," he said, and Riley
raked in the pot.

(^Senator Wolcott is one of the coolest men liv-
ing when engaged in a poker game. Like most
men whose early manhood has been spent on the

46 JACK POTS.

frontier, he learned the vahie of a poker hand, and
he was known as a hmit player all over Colorado
before he ever gained any fame as a lawyer.

Wolcott once found himself in a poker game
where three of the other players were working a
sure thing. They were professionals and were after
a big bundle that Wolcott was known to have, as
well as looking out for the wad of Durkin, the fifth
player, a mining operator. Durkin was uncon-
scious but Wolcott knew in twenty minutes after
the first hand was dealt that the intention was to
rob him, and set his mind to find his way out.

At last he was dealt a pat flush of diamonds,
made up of the five, seven, eight, nine and jack.
He skinned these cards over and did a heap of
thinking. He felt in his bones that a flush would
be no good on the show down, but he chipped in
and stayed to draw cards.

He wasn't raised before the draw, and that
strengthened his impression, so he looked over his
red hand and concluded to draw a card in order if
possible to straighten the sequence. He pondered
a long time which to let go but finally threw away
the jack, and called for a card. The dealer could
not conceal his surprise at his wanting any, but
gave him the card.

Wolcott picked it up and found that he had got
the six spot of diamonds. He never turned a hair.
The betting began and he nursed the sequence, and

POKER IN WASHINGTON. 47

just stayed along, letting the other fellows do the
raising. At last it got down to Wolcott and one
of the professionals. Finally there was a call, and
the other man showed four queens. Wolcott laid
down the five, six, seven, eight and nine of dia-
monds and swept in the pot. Then he took Durkin
by the collar and marched him out of the room.
He said afterwards that it was the greatest piece of
luck that he ever had in a poker game.
VSenator Harris, of Tennessee, used to be an in-
veterate poker player, and his limit was penny-
ante. During the struggle over the Wilson Tarifif
Bill, when the whole country was churned up, the
House was surprised one day to see the venerable
•statesman wandering about inquiring for Repre-
uSentative Tarsney. When he found him, the tw^o
men engaged in an animated conversation for ten
minutes, and the people in the gallery, and all the
correspondents were tremendously excited. Tars-
ney was a member of the Ways and Means Com-
mittee, and this talk with Harris was no doubt due
to some tariff complication that would affect the
pending bill.

The correspondents hammered out many an ex-
citing tale about this conference, and it was only
by interviewing Tarsney that the truth came out.

"Tarsney," said Senator Harris, solemnly, *T
want you to come to my rooms to-night to play
penny ante. Do you play penny ante, Tarsney?"

48 JACK POTS.

''Yes," said Tarsney, with equal solemnity, "I
do, whenever I can gain the consent of my wife."

'Then," said Senator Harris, fiercely, "get your
wife's consent^ and come over to my room to-night.
Blackburn will be here, and I will get DuBois.
The limit is twenty-five cents, and the ante is two-
call-five. You know the rules of my room, sir?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, sir," went on Senator Harris, still keeping
up his tone of determined fury, "the rules of my
room are these. As we sit down to the game I
give every gentleman present a drink of Tennes-
see whiskey that is fifty years old, sir. After that
nobody gets a drink unless he loses money to me.
If those rules are agreeable to you, sir, I shall be
proud to see you at my rooms to-night."

Tarsney was there, and he took care to lose a pot
occasionally to the host.

As a rule the diplomatic corps is treated with
elaborate politeness by the residents of Washing-
ton as it is Understood that they are not used to
our ways and it is advisable to not convey wrong
impressions. But occasionally, the love of a joke
gets away with the young bloods, and they play a
prank.

Herr Von S of the German embassy was a

popular diplomat, and had been taught the game
of poker, or the rudiments, and that was the basis
of the joke. A party of young bloods got him

POKER IN WASHINGTON. 49

into a social game and on the fifth or sixth hand,
dealt him six cards. On discovering this fact, he
laid them down, remarking that he would not play
that hand.

The dealer asked the reason, and when told, pre-
tended to be highly offended, and declared that it
was a reflection on him, and that the German must
play the hand. The foreigner reiterated the state-
ment that he would not play it. Then the fun
began.

The players began to wrangle among themselves
over the decision, took sides, and in a few minutes,
there was a flash of steel, pistols leaped from hip
pockets, dirks, bowie knives, and even razors w^ere
drawn. The air also became lurid with profanity
that would have enlightened a cowboy in the elas-
ticity and scope of the English language.

Appalled at such an amazing spectacle, Herr

Von S must have felt cold chills running up

and down his spine, but he never weakened. With
a nerve and manliness that equalled anything ever
seen on the field of battle, he rose to his feet, and
said, ''Gentlemen, I know not this game entirely,
but I have been told that I am right. I will not
play these cards. My life is in your hands.".

The joke had gone too far however for the
young bloods to be satisfied with such a tame end-
ing, and they kept up their wild whoops, and the
flourishing of weapons. Then they apparently be-

JACK POTS.

gan fighting among themselves, shooting point
blank, clutching throats with vengeful fury and
stabbing like wild men. In the midst of it all the
German made his way out of the room.

Afterward, in
A f tA<>^^^ speaking of the

truly American
game of cards
in which he had
taken part, he
gave a brief and
very graphic
account of the
manner in
which his exit
had been accomplished:

"I was a great many
times getting out of the
door."

One night on
Hill there was a

"I will not play these cards. My
life is in your hands."

Capitol
remark-
able game of poker, in which no Congressmen or
diplom.ats were engaged. There were just four old
cronies, all business men. They had just dropped
in, and began to talk over old times when they
were youngsters. Some one remembered the way
they used to play poker with gun wads for chips
and a dry goods box in the back shed for a table,
so it wasn't singular that some other one suggested

POKER IN WASHINGTON. 51

that it would be a good idea to have a game just
for old times.

The host got out a deck of cards and his wife's
button bag, and it happened that there were
twenty buttons apiece. Then there was a raking of
pockets which disclosed the fact that there wasn't
more than two dollars in cash in the crowd.

The game then proceeded, but after only a few
hands the host remarked in a casual way that he
wished they were playing sure enough poker. The
man to his left skinned over his cards, acquiesced
in the desire, and, strange to say, the two other
men said they were more than willing to make it
the real thing for that hand anyhow.

The buttons had been bet already, and as there
was no money in the party, it was decided to use
simple articles easy of identification as markers
for the amounts each player should bet. With this
understanding the limit was taken off, and the fun
began.

The host bet ten dollars and put up a cigar as a
marker, and the next man raised it and shoved in
a key ring as a representative of forty dollars. So
it went around until there was on the table an ag-
glomeration of the various things men carry in
their pockets.

When they got ready to draw cards the expect
ant dealer was amazed to find that none of the
players wanted any, and just to be in the fashion

JACK POTS.

he didn't take any himself. Then the betting be-
gan furiously, and everything the players had witli

the m, whose disap-
pearance would not
cause too much
inquiry on the
part of their
wives were put
up as markers for
their bets.

At last it came
around to the
host for the fifth
time and he de-
termined to call.
He reached out
and picked up an
empty coal scut-
tle.

"This goes for
sixty dollars," he
said, hoarsely. "I've got four jacks."

The other players laid down respectively a nine
full on five, a seven full on kings and four deuces.
The winner swept all the markers into the coal
scuttle and the game broke up. The next day the
coal scuttle man received $260 apiece from each of
the other men.

"This goes for sixty dollars " he said,
hoarsely, "I've got four jacks."

CHAPTER IV.

POKER IN LONDON AND PARIS JOHN BULL'S TWO

PAIR A GAME WITH THE PRINCE

OF WALES.

It is a long cry from Washington to London,
but not where cards are concerned. As explained
at the beginning poker has never taken deep root
in Great Britain, but it occasionally crops out with
generally humorous results.

On the staff of the American legation in London
some years ago there was a Major, who, like all
army officers, could play a stiff game, but who had
been rather out of his element for several months,
as our Minister was a man who frowned on gam-
bling in any form and that kept the staff subdued.
But one day there came to town a couple of the
Major's friends from the land of the stars and
stripes, and the trio had two or three little sittings
to the refreshment of all concerned.

Then one night the Americans brought to the
Major's rooms a Scotch manufacturer and an Eng-
lish M. P., a regular John Bull, gentlemanly and
pig-headed as they make them. After drinks and
cigars around, one of the Americans suggested
poker, but the Alajor demurred. Poker, he re-
marked, was a very dangerous game, particularly

54 JACK POTS.

as his friends (he modestly omitted any reference
to himself) were hot stuff, and it was possible to
lose considerable money at the pastime without
half trying.

At this the Scotchman remarked that he had
learned the game in the States, and he thought he
was cautious enough to restrain his ardor, and
the Englishman said that he knew he had to learn
the game sometime in his life, and this seemed a
fitting opportunity.

''V\\ take five pounds' worth of chips as a
starter," said he, "and if some one will kindly mark
the value of the hands on a piece of paper, I'll pick
up the game as I go along."

"I don't like the idea of playing poker with a
man who knows absolutely nothing about the
game, particularly in my own rooms," said the
Major, with an anxious look at the others.

But the Englishman was insistent, and as there
was risk of offending him if refusal was persisted
in, the Major gave way. The American who sat
on the right of the M. P. marked the value of the
hands on a sheet of paper, and passed it around.
It was all right, and, after a few other minutes
passed in explaining about the deal and the draw,
the game started.

The limit was five shillings. For an hour there
was no decided advantage, and although, like all
new players, the Englishman had a proclivity for

POKER IN LONDON AND PARIS. 55

coming in on every hand, he held his own. He
also showed the peculiarity of new players in re-
garding two pairs as a world beater, and he re-
marked several times that they looked much bigger
than threes.

In the middle of the second hour there w^as an
intermission for refreshments. You know what
that is. Nobody stops playing; time is too pre-
cious for that. Each man grabs a sandwich or
whatever there is to devour and chews at it, while
with the other hand he skins his cards or fingers
his chips. This was a new feature to the English-
man, and it seemed to affect his luck when the
game was resumed in earnest. At any rate he
made a half dozen disastrous bets, on all of which
the Major profited.

Then the game went on in a monotonous way,
and the Americans could not fail to observe that
the M. P. was thinking that this great American
game was no great shakes after all. Then, of
course, came the star hand, of which there is al-
ways one if you play long enough.

It was the Major's deal, and the Englishman had
the age. The American on his left dropped out,
but all th'e others came in. There was a raise be-
fore the draw, and the man who had dropped out
looked at the Englishman's hand and advised him
to stay. The Englishman took one card ; the other
three drew three cards.

JACK POTS.

The first man bet a chip, the Scotchman saw it,
the Major Hfted it five shilhngs and the M. P. bet
the Hmit. The American — who had three tens and
a pair of fours — reciprocated, the Scotchman pru-
dently dropped out, and the Major tihed it the
hmit. The American looked at his full house with
an inquiring air, and simply stayed, but when the
Major and the honorable member from Stogis-on-
the-Des raised the limit again, he soured on his

hand and threw it
into the deck.
This left the bet-
ting between the
Major and John
Bull.

After about six
raises the Major
thought it had
gone far enough,
and said, warn-
ingly, 'T'd go a
bit slow, old man,
remember, this is your first
game of poker."

By this time the other
American had taken a look
at the Englishman's hand,
and whispered something
in his ear, with the result that he promptly

The three had a drink and seemed

so hilarious that they

nearly choked.

POKER IN LONDON AND PARIS. 57

raised the Major. Then both Americans went
oft to the other end of the room where there
was a bottle of the real stuff, and took a drink with
much merriment. After about ten more raises the
Englishman had to buy more chips, which gave
the Major another opportifnity to remind him that
this was his first game of poker and that he must
not bet over the strength of his hand.

"That's all right," responded the stubborn John
Bull, and he threw another half sovereign in the
pot.

''Now, old chap," said the Major, solemnly,
"don't blame me if you lose your money."

At this the two Americans took the Scotchman
over to the sideboard, and the three had a drink
and seemed so hilarious that they nearly choked.
The Major was rather nettled at this, and remarked
that they had better be giving their friend some
good advice, than laughing like hyenas. The only
result of their admonition was that the three men
went off into convulsions, and one man actually
went into the adjoining bed room, threw himself
down, and fairly yelled. Whenever the Major sug-
gested to the Englishman that he really ought to
call or else he would be sorry for it, there came
another roar from the trio.

Finally John Bull got to the end of his money
and putting his last half sovereign in the pot, he
said, "I'll call you. What have you got?"

S8 JACK POTS.

Hearing this the others rushed up to the table.
The Major looked at the pot, but did not reach for
it. He did not want to be in a hurry because he
knew it was his, and he hated to hurt the English-
man's feelings. At last he said very slowly and
almost sorrowfully, "I've got four jacks."

The Englishman laid his cards face upwards on
the table, and asked ''Do I wan?" He had four
kings.

It took the Major some time to take in the full
humor of the situation, but he did. The painful
feature of the affair was that the Englishrnan
thought he was betting his money on two pairs.
He had simply followed the advice of the Ameri-
can, who, upon seeing his cards, had advised him to
''bet until he was dead."

He did not go quite so far as that, which was a
good thing for the Major.

It is only a step across the Channel, and we are
in Paris — "gay Paree,'' you know, where all good
Americans go when they die. Of course Parisians
play cards, and they actually play poker, but in a
way that Americans would hardly recognize. It is
a kind of mixture of a sand bag and a freeze out,
with the dangerous qualities of each.

It starts ofif in a club, and a steward or croupier,
or whatever his name may be, holds in his hands a
list of names. The first six on the list are "sitting
in." Each has declared his stake ; one $50, another

POKER IN LONDON AND PARIS 59

$80, another $75, and so on, the limit of the dec-
laration being, for instance, $100. Chips arc
handed to each to represent the varying values,
and the game begins.

The limit of betting is the amount of chips be-
fore the player. The man with the $100 worth of
chips, to make a supposition, bets all of it on the
third deal. What becomes of -the man with $50,
if he has a good hand? He may put up his fifty
dollars, and get a sight for his money, and so with
ihe others. If he loses he is gone — scratched off
the list — and the steward reads ofT another name
to take his place.

There is no half way about it; it is win or bust
all the time. The Frenchmen have understood
that poker is a game of bluff and- high betting, and
nothing else ; they have missed entirely the quieter
features that make it loved. If four out of the six
are willing to play moderately, following some-
thing like the value of their hands, the other two
would shame them, dare them, crowd them. The
average Frenchman cannot stand to be ridiculed.
Around the table is a double row of spectators, and
they are in a continual state of awe and admira-
tion over the skill and daring of the bluffers, so
the sensible fellows are g^oaded until in a rash mo-
ment they plunge down their little pile, and out
they go.

Every once in a while an American gets intro-

6o JACK POTS.

duced to this French game of poker, and makes
up his mind to stand these sports on their heads,
but he doesn't. There are too many anoularities
about the game for him to grasp in less than a half
dozen sittings, and by that time his money is all
gone.

On one of his flying trips to the Continent, our
Parson Davies ran up against this sweet game, and
after being scratched five nights in succession, de-
clared that he thought poker as played in Paris de-
cidedly immoral.

It does not follow from this that there is no real
poker played in Paris. There are enough Ameri-
cans, and all kinds of Americans to introduce any-
thing. They play among themselves, and have in-
troduced it into boarding houses, but they cannot
get the Frenchmen to play the game among them-
selves as it should be played. What the Parisians
need is an American Minister like Schenck to edu-
cate them.

As said once before General Schenck was not
really an inveterate poker player, although he will
go down to history with a reputation on account of
the little treatise he wrote on the game, but he
could play with the best of them when in the
humor. A big corporation lawyer tells a story that
illustrates what a high roller Schenck could be.

'T was in London on business," said the lawyer,
"and having known Schenck in America, called on

POKER IN LONDON AND PARIS. 6i

him. He greeted me very cordially, showed me
around town and in a general way did the proper
thing.

" 'By the way/ said he, as we were about to sep-
arate one morning, 'what are you going to do this
evening?'

*'I replied that I had nothing particular in view.

" Then,' said Schenck, cordially, 'there is going
to be a poker game at the Langham, and if you
care for the exercise I'd like to take you in. The
Prince of Wales will be one of the party.'

"Of course I couldn't resist that. I reflected
that it isn't often that an American citizen has a
chance to draw cards, raise and bluff against a real
prince, not an imitation Russian afTair, but a sure
enough heir apparent. I didn't care two cents for
poker — and, as a true born American, I ought not
to have cared for a prince of the blood — but it
would be an experience to tell my children wdien
they grew up, how their daddy beat the Prince of
Wales. Of course I counted on that.

"So I told Schenck I'd be there without fail, and
he expressed himself as very well pleased. One
thing I forgot. I didn't ask about the limit, but as
I had about two thousand dollars in good Ameri-
can money, I felt elegantly and superciliously safe.
Even if there was pretty high play, I would be
there.

"Six o'clock came and I was at the Langham,

62 JACK POTS.

and the others came m later. With the Prince of
Wales came Anselm Rothschild and the Duke of
Marlborough, and these with ^Minister Schenck
and myself were to make up the game. I want to
say right here that the Prince is a gentleman from
the ground up. If he feels himself any better than
his fellow men, and no one can blame him if he
does, he never shows it, at least to Americans.
They have a saying in England that if the tight
little island ever becomes a republic, the Prince of
Wales would be elected President by a unanimous
vote, and I believe it.

*7ust after I was presented to the Prince I asked
Schenck in a whisper what limit was usually fixed
at these poker festivals, and, to my horror, he re-
plied in a careless aside that there was no limit.

"The Prince wouldn't listen to such thing as a
limit, explained Schenck. It would be beneath his
dignity to suggest a thing like that.

'T felt a cold chill running down my back, and
my two thousand dollars reposing in the vault of
the Bank of England began to assume the appear-
ance of very small potatoes. Here I was about to
buck up against England's heir apparent with the
entire revenues of Great Britain to draw upon and
a kindly Parliament to pay his debts, the Duke of
Marlborough with something like a million a year,
and a Rothschild, who could write his check for ten
millions without turning a hair. I began to think
of home and the dear old flag, and all that.

POKER IN LONDON AND PARIS.

*'It Started the perspiration, but I was in and
couldn't get out, so I made up my mind to stay
long enough to lose about a hundred dollars, and
then suddenly grow ill and extract myself. It
wouldn't do to have stomach ache, which was a
confoundedly plebeian ailment, and I deplored the
fact that I was not subject to fits, but I thought I
might ring in a pain of some kind, or perhaps fall

" And the first thing his Royal Highness said was, "Give me one
thousand pounds worth of chips.''

back on cold feet. Perhaps the Prince had been
occasionally troubled in that way, and would sym-
pathize with me.

*'As we sat down, however, two things happened
to disturb my dream of cold feet. Schenck was to
bank and the first thing His Royal Highness said
was :

64 JACK POTS.

'' 'Give me one thousand pounds worth of chips.'
And he said it with no more emphasis than if it
had been: 'Pass the pie.'

"I began to reahze that I was hable to drop my
Httle old two thousand the first hand, and perhaps
before I had a chance to draw cards, and I in-
wardly prayed for an earthquake. But earthquakes
only visit London about once in a thousand years.

"To add to my grief the Rothschild chap placed
at his elbow a book of signed checks, with a blank
space for him to write in the amount, which he did
with a pencil, in a careless way as if he were keep-
ing count of hams. The only glimmer of hope on
the horizon was the conduct of the Duke of Marl-
borough. He acted like a perfect gentleman and
only bought two thousand dollars worth of checks.

'T steered by him, and also bought two thou-
sand dollars worth. Schenck gave me an approv-
ing smile, and I learned afterward that I did the
proper thing. It would not have been etiquette to
buy as much as the Prince. I was mighty glad of
that. I thought since that I would have been in
a fine fix if etiquette had required me to stpck up
with the Prince. 1 am afraid that I would have
stuck our Minister for his year's salary, and he
would never have spoken to me again.

''The horrors of that eventful night I can never
recall without a shudder. The ante was two
pounds — ten dollars — but that was a mere detail.

POKER IN LONDON AND PARIS. 65

The Prince would look at his cards in a careless
way, and remark T raise that a hundred pounds.'

"The bloated villain Rothschild would flip the
pasteboards in an indifferent manner, and observe,
with the same indifference to my feelings, T'll see
that and go fifty pounds better.'

"These blood curdling remarks would take place
before the draw, you understand. And then they
would lean back, and puff at their fifty-cent cigars,
call for what cards they wanted, and talk about
bets of five to ten thousand dollars, or anything
that happened to come into their wealthy heads.

'*Oh, how I wished I was a copper king of Mon-
tana, or a coal baron of Pennsylvania, or any other
fellow rolling in wealth, so that I could have socked
it to them ! I laid down hand after hand because
I couldn't stand the strain. Td pick up two stout
pair, get hoisted a couple of hundred before the
draw, and then get knocked out with a bet of two
thousand, and set back and see the Prince or
Rothschild pull in the pot on a pair of nines.

"That's the sort of company I was in, and I
didn'lr^see my way out the least bit. Lots of times
I felt morally certain that they were bluffing, but
I couldn't risk five thousand dollars on my opinion,
and I had to let it go. It wasn't poker at all ; it
was more like highway robbery. It was just pos-
sible that they might have a good hand and if I
run up against one my friend Schenck would be
ruined cashing my losses.

66 JACK POTS.

"At the end of an hour I was out twelve hundred
dollars; simply anted it away, so to speak, and
didn't have a bit of fun. Then, all of a sudden, I
got hold of three aces. It happened to be a jack
pot, very fat as you may believe, and I had them be-
fore the draw. I said to myself that it was now or
never, and I run my face for all sorts of raises.
Talk about cold feet ! When I tell my children
about that agonizing ten minutes, I never refer to
my feelings, and let them understand that their dad
was cool and collected.

''But I wasn't. The Prince and the Duke and
that Rothschild let me down rather easy — I sup-
pose they took pity on me, as it was the first hand I
had really played — at any rate there w^as a call, and
I won ten thousand dollars on the hand. Then, oh,
how I wished that I could get up and make my
escape, but that would not have been etiquette, so
I stayed on and kept on fooling away my chips as
before.

''The end of it was that the game broke up at
midnight, and I was as happy as if I had w^on a
prize in a lottery when I found that I was out only
three hundred dollars. The experience was worth
the money, and I have had lots of fun talking about
it, but I w^ouldn't go through it again until I get
to be about ten times a millionaire."

CHAPTER V.

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE VARIOUS -DECISIONS BY

LEGAL LUMINARIES — HOW THE JUDGE OVER-
RULED THE MOTION THE SHERIFF

TOOK THE POT.

In the eyes of the law all gambling- is illegal and
of course poker comes under the ban. Whenever
the law gets mixed up with a poker game, the cards
have to take a back seat. Yet the law, or the law-
yers, who are the life of the law, are currently re-
ported to know a great deal about poker from
practical experience. It is supposed that they
learn the game when they are young and do not
realize how wicked it is. Then, when they advance
in years, and have to take big fees from corpora-
tions that can do no wrong, they forget all about
the days of their youth. This probably accounts
for some of the curious decisions we hear from
the bench, when poker is in court.

A New York man who kept a cigar store, was
hauled up before a magistrate for keeping a gamb-
ling den. A detective went into the room back of
the store and found five longshoremen playing
penny ante.

'T have the kitty here as evidence," said the de-
tective.

JACK POTS.

''What has a cat got to do with the game?"
asked the magistrate.

"I said a kitty," repUed the detective.

*'Well, isn't a kitty a cat? Produce her."

The detective explained what a kitty was, and
the magistrate Hstened with a keen air, as if he
was imbibing novel information. Then he de-
manded to know who owned the kitty, and as the

"Not always," chuckled the judge on the bench.

cigar man said he didn't, and the longshoremen
couldn't be found, the case was dismissed and the
kitty was confiscated for the good of the poor.

A judge on the district court bench of Minne-
sota was more frank and also more learned. The
business methods of a furniture dealer who made a
sky rocket failure were being looked into, and in

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE. 69

the course of the trial it was developed that he had
been playing cards rather recklessly, and a story
of how he went against a sure thing and lost $2,500
at one sitting cropped out.

It seems that the furniture man was introduced
to a stranger at the Merchants' Hotel in St. Paul,
and a game was soon raging. The three men were
in it, and the introducer played the double cross on
the furniture man. At a certain time he was to
drop out and signal what the stranger had.

The furniture man caught a bob tail flush, and
his friend signalled that the stranger had only one
small pair. Our friend then drew one card and
proceeded to bluff. The stranger raised him, and
in a short time $2,500 in bills were piled up. When
the show down came our friend had nothing and
the stranger scooped in the pot on a pair of jacks.

"By the way," interrupted the creditor's counsel
at this point, "which hand wins at poker?"

"The best one, of course," was the disgusted an-
swer.

"Not always," chuckled the judge on the bench,
and a prolonged laugh passed around the room.

"You admit, then," continued the lawyer, se
verely, "that, knowing as you did by your friend's
pretty system of private telegraphy, that this
stranger had only a small pair that you run up the
stakes to $2,500?"

"Yes, sir."

70 JACK POTS.

"Well, now wasn't that a very unusual proceed-
ing?"

''Oh, I don't know," broke in the judge, with
the air of a man full of information on the subject
under discussion, "I suppose the witness argued
that having bet on the cards it was his best play to
bluff the stranger out, because, you see, he drew
only one card while the other man drew two, and
had a pair of jacks all the time, don't you perceive?
Under such circumstances a play of that kind
would win nine times out of ten."

Sojne of the old lawyers looked reproachfully at
the judge for giving the thing away in that fashion,
but the youngsters thought it the best joke of the
session.

Another learned jurist who could play poker was
Judge Walker, of Kentucky, who was very strict
/ on the bench but a jovial companion in private
life. It had been the custom of the lawyers travel-
ing the circuit to indulge in a friendly game of
poker nearly every night after court adjourned,
and Judge Walker occasionally took a hand in the
game.

One night in Bracken County the court and the-
lawyers joined in a friendly game the evening they
arrived, and the next morning before court oper d,
the judge was seen in earnest conversation with the
district attorney.

When court opened the judge delivered the
usual charge to the Grand Jury, and then added :

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE. 71

*'I am informed that of late gambling- has been
rampant in this county, despite vigorous efforts to
suppress it, and it is your duty to bring to justice
the occasional as well as the persistent offenders."
Then he turned to the attorneys, and continued :
"Gentlemen, you are officers of the court, and as
such are sworn to uphold the laws and constitution
of the State. You have been playing poker, con-
trary to the statutes in such cases made and pro-
vided. Each of you will be fined $10 upon the
return of indictments, which I now instruct the
jury to bring in."

Turning to the prosecuting- attorney, he said:
"You are not only a lawyer, but the prosecuting
attorney, sworn to bring offenders to justice. You
will pay $25. Walker," laying his hand on his own
breast, ''you are not only a lawyer but a judge,
and your case is the w^orst of all. You will pav

$50."

He paid the fine, as did each of the lawyers, and
it broke up the game on that circuit.

Chicago has produced an official who would take
issue with that Kentucky judge. He isn't a lawyer,
but he was a police inspector, and that is the next
thing to it. He instructed the police to close all
places where stud poker, faro, keno and other
gambling might be found, but not to touch the
harmless game of draw. In explanation, the in-
spector said that he regarded draw poker as on

JACK pots:

a par with whist, euchre, soUtaire and tiddledy-
winks.

"I regard poker as an innocent game," he said,
with a judicial air, ''and a harmless diversion. It

is true that money can be
bet on it, but the same
is true of the other
games I have mentioned.
Poker should be played
with beans or buttons,
and I understand
that it is quite a
favorite with fam-
ilies."

W hen asked
whether he sup-
posed the club
men used beans
or buttons, he re-
plied that he re-
garded the inci-
dent as closed.

As it happens, how-
ever, this police Solomon
has backing in no less a personage than Chief Jus-
tice Beatty, of the Cahfornia Supreme Court, who
has decided that in the eyes of the law poker is
not a game that comes under the head of gambling.
This decision was the result of an application

Laying his hand on his own breast —
you will pay $50.

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE. 73

for a writ of habeas corpus made by Julius Meyer,
who was held to answer on a charge of perjury.
He was a juror in a case where the defendant was
on trial for robbing the proprietors of a faro bank.
Meyer was asked by the counsel for the defend-
ant :

"Do you know a man named Carroll or Ross or
Webster, the men who were proprietors of the
gambling house at 620 Market street?"

To which he replied: "No, sir, I have nothing
to do with such places."

After the trial it was discovered that Meyer was
a constant visitor at certain poker establishments,
and was occasionally employed to help the game
along by taking a hand to revive interest. On this
information the district attorney made out a com-
plaint in which he charged Meyer with perjury.
In the lower court the ex-juror was found guilty,
but Chief Justice Beatty reversed this decision.
In his opinion he said :

'Toker playing for money, however objectiona-
ble in fact, in the eyes of the law is as innocent as
chess or any game played for recreation and its
votaries and the places where it is played are not
criminal. There is no inconsistency, therefore, be-
tween the declaration of the petitioner that he had
nothing to do with such places as a faro bank, and
the fact he did frequent club-rooms where poker
was played for money; And since there is neither

74 JACK POTS.

evidence nor accusation of any other false state-
ment made by him it follows that he cannot be
held for perjury and must be discharged from cus-
tody."

As may be imagined this decision created a sen-
sation, but the justice stuck to it, and the poker
players of 'Frisco felt like voting him a set of
silver, but didn't dare to.

\\^hen Judge Y — was on the northern New
York circuit he was noted as a card player, in fact
it was a passion with him, and hardly a night passed
that he did not set down to a game of some
kind. He was not particular, as he played all
games equally well, and all in the same calm and
judicial style. This fact made him especially strong
at poker, but he never took advantage of it to
win any special amount of money. It was the
game he was after, and as a rule he would call even
when he had a strong hand, when he thought the
betting showed signs of exceeding reasonable lim-
its.

One night he sat in a game at the Lawyers' Club
in Buffalo, where the stakes were never high, and
the usual limit was a five-dollar bill. It had been
a trying day in court, with a very complicated case.
The lawyer for the defense was a little fellow named
Perkins, a peppery chap, who made a specialty of
badgering witnesses, and making objections to
every bit of evidence that did not come his way.

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE. 75

He had had a very unlucky day, as Judge Y — was
very clear headed and not inclined to let a lawyer
run over him as some judges do. Consequently he
sat down on Perkins extremely hard on about
twenty different occasions, and overruled all his
objections with promptness and dispatch. A law-
yer is supposed to take such matters as part of the
game, but Perkins was a man who harbored re-
sentment at being shown up.

When the game was made up, the judge sat at
the right of Perkins, and the little lawyer gave the
big judge a glance that boded him no good. The
game had not been in progress ten minutes before
it w^as evident that Perkins was going to make the
judge his meat if possible. You may have seen
such a game. Perkins wouldn't stay in a hand
unless the judge w-as also in, and he bucked at him
without ceasing. Of course the other players
noticed it and exchanged significant glances, but
the judge appeared to be oblivious.

Time and again Perkins would bet the limit
before the draw when it was the judge's age, and
when it was his age he was sure to raise the judge
out if possible. This was rather a dangerous game
against a cool player, and had the judge been
vengeful he could have broken the peppery player
on several occasions. But he laughed and talked,
smoked cigars and took an occasional nip of old
rye, and let Perkins get away with his transparent

76 JACK POTS.

bluffs with the best of good nature. And, as may
be imagined, Perkins kept getting hotter and hot-
ter all the time.

At last it got down to a pot where everybody
appeared to have a fair hand, at least everybody
stayed. It was lifted several times before the draw.
The judge took three cards, the other three men
two apiece and Perkins drew one.

It was Perkin's age. The man to his left
chipped, the next man raised him one, the next
man called, so did the judge, and Perkins raised it
the limit. One man dropped out, the other called,
and the judge raised Perkins the limit.

''Hello," said that gentleman, with a thinly
veiled sneer. "Motion overruled, hey?"

''Looks that way," replied the judge, calmly.

"Then I'll have to take an exception," retorted
Perkins. "Raise you five."

The other two players threw up their cards.
They saw at once that a fight was on between Per-
kins and the judge and they didn't want to be
pinched. The judge raised back the limit, and
thus it sawed back and forth for about ten times,
Perkins all the while getting madder and madder,
the judge cool as if hearing an action for simple
trespass.

By this time there was quite a small army of
spectators around the table ; the exhibition of ran-
cor was an unusual sight in that club. Some of

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE.

them interjected a few jocular remarks with the
hope of giving the game a more gentle turn, but
by this time Perkins was white to the lips, and
one might have thought he was playing for his
life.

''Come, come," said the president of the club at
length. "We don't want
any one to lose a fortune
here. In a friendly game,
you know"

"Make a final
suggested one of
the players.

"I'm agreed,"
said the judge,
promptly. "Or
shall we show
down as it is?"

"Never!" cried
Perkins, excited-
ly. "L insist on
another bet." He
threw thirty dol-
lars on the table.
"You can't over-
rule that!"

The judge bit off the end of a fresh cigar with
aggravating deliberation, lit it, laid his cards face
down, and counted out thirty dollars. "Now, sir,"

Perkins sunk into a heap like a
pile of old clothes.

78 JACK POTS.

he said, leaning" back in his chair in his well known
attitude on the bench, ''produce your witnesses."

Perkins, shaking like a leaf, but with a triumph-
ant grin on his face, spread out his hand on the
table and exhibited four deuces.

''The court," said the judge, sternly, "decides
that the witnesses are unworthy of credence."

Then he laid out his cards and disclosed four
treys. Perkins sunk into a heap like a pile of old
clothes, and actually gasped as he saw the judge
gather up the money and chips, and leave the table.

"Damn," he said, faintly. "Overruled again !"

Where the following described game took place
deponent sayeth not,' and it is not essential, as the
only important part of it is the ending. There
were four players, but there was nothing out of
the ordinary until it came to a jack pot, or rather,
this particular jack pot, and only the judge and
the colonel were in that.

It had been made for $25 as a starter, and each
of the four players had sweetened it four times with
a five-dollar chip, before there came an opener.

The colonel picked up his cards, glanced care-
lessly at them, smiled blandly, and said, softly :
ril bust that for fifty, so as to let you all in."

Two of the players thanked him with great cor-
diality, and stayed out pleasantly. The judge, who
was the last to have a say, looked at his cards care-
fully and an expression of supreme disgust settled

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE. 79

on his face. He held the cards by the corner and
made a slight motion as if to throw them in the
discard.

The colonel's hand twitched nervously. It
looked as if it would be a case of showing openers
and raking in the rich stakes and for reasons that
will appear later the colonel was reluctant to show
his hand at that stage.

The judge made another motion as if he were
inclined to throw up his hand and the colonel said :
''What are you going to do, judge?"

The judge went through his hand again, with
the despairing look intensified.

''Ain't afraid to play, are you?" inquired the
colonel, tauntingly.

"A little bit," replied the judge, "but I hate to
see you run away with the pot in this fashion. I
guess I'll see what you are doing this on, anyhow."
Then he made good the opening bet.

They drew cards. The colonel took two and the
judge, after much painful deliberation, decided that
one was about all he wanted.

The colonel then promptly bet another fifty
dollars, and the judge, after thinking it over, saw
him and raised five dollars ; the colonel came back
with another fifty-dollar raise.

The judge laid his hand on the table, pulled out
a roll of bills and counted off three liundred dol-
lars.

JACK POTS.

"Vn tilt that about two hundred and fifty," he
remarked, calmly.

The colonel gasped. He looked at his hand and
then at the very respectable pile of chips and cur-
rency on the board. The judge's face still bore
that pained expression. The colonel thought over
the proposition for a minute and then went down
into his clothes. By hard scrabbling he managed
to get two hundred and fifty dollars together, and
then he said, rather weakly: 'T'll call you."

" Why, you robber," he said, " you had them all the time."

The judge picked up his hand and spread it out
on the table. He had four fives.

The colonel gasped worse than ever as he
showed up three queens.

"Why, you robber," he said, "you had them all
the time."

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE. ^i

"Certainly," assented the judge, cheerfully.

''But you made a couple of motions as if you
were going to throw up your cards."

''My boy,'^ said the judge, solemnly, as he
stowed away the wad of bills, "I think it would be
a good thing for you to go to some night school
w^here there is a complete course in that noble
game known as draw poker."

But wiien we get down to what may be called
the lower walks of jurisprudence, it is seen that
law and poker mix with sometimes curious results.
This is illustrated in the trials and adventures of
two gentlemen of the East who went South and
West to do the country.

In a general way they were on the make, but
in this case their specialty was in bunkoing con-
fiding farmers out of farms and crops in various
ways not necessary to describe here. In the course
of time these two rascals came to Bugg Centre, in
Arkansas. One of the gentlemen, on his return
to civilization, related the happenings of that small
burg in a spirited manner.

"It didn't take us long to get acquainted, and
the glad hand was put out everywhere, generally
with a jug attached to it. Towards evening of
this welcoming day somebody suggested a little
game of draw just to pass away the time, and a
tall, lanky man said that as it was pretty warm we
might as well go to his house and play on the

82 JACK POTS.

'piazzer' while his daughter played the 'pianner'
inside.

''I wasn't stuck on the piano business, as music
always did disconcert me when playing cards, but
I couldn't very well make any objection. So we
went there, and in about half an hour the music
didn't bother me in the least. I don't know who
taught those fellows to play cards, but it was the
softest proposition I ever encountered.

"Tobe — that was my partner — and I just looked
at each other. We didn't have to do any crooked
work ; the other four fellows just threw their money
away, making the biggest fool bets I ever saw. I
never found any money in my life, but this was the
nearest to it.

''By ten o'clock we had all the money in sight,
and Tobe said wx'd better be starting out, as it
was a long walk home, and the moon would be low
down before we could reach the hotel. Our lanky
host asked us to stay all night, but we refused.
The fact is, we were so well satisfied with the rake-
ofif that we meant to skip early the next morning.

''We started through the woods just loaded
down with cash, and pretty near four hundred dol-
lars winner, and we did some pretty joyous talking,
when all of a sudden we heard dogs baying behind
us. We both knew they were hounds, and Tobe
said somebody was coon hunting, although it was
rather late in the year for that sport.

POKER AND JURISPRUDENCE. ^3

'Then he began to tell me about a coon hunt
he was once in, and he was getting to the interest-
ing part when he broke off and cried : Tard, get
a tree ! Those dogs are after us.'

"I never was good at tree climbing, but I got
up one in a hurry and Tobe took another. In
about two minutes the meanest lot of big mouthed,
mangy hounds you ever saw were howling and
prancing around under us. We both prayed that
someone would come, and sure enough someone
did. It was the tall, lank man.

He came up and quieted the dogs, and then
leaned on a long double-barreled gun, while he
delivered a short address.

''He said that he was mighty pained to do what
he had to do, but it was his duty. The fact was
that Bugg Centre had been victimized several times
in the last year by strangers who came into the
community and cleaned it out in various ways. He
was sorry to have to assert that we had returned
the hospitality extended to us in a cruel way.

"We had gone into a friendly game with the
Mayor, the Marshal, the County Treasurer and
the Sheriff, which latter was himself. In a moment
of confidence the Treasurer had staked the other
gentlemen with all the available county funds, and
we had skillfully — he would not say dishonestly —
won them all. After our departure the little band
of officials talked over the matter and came to the

84 JACK POTS.

conclusion that it was the duty of the Sheriff to
make amends for this error, and here he was.

"He informed us that he construed his duty to be
to make us shell out all our winnings, and, as his
fee, any other small change that we might have
about us. He added that the dogs were not hun-
gry, but would get so after awhile, and when we
came down they might appease their appetite on
us. Furthermore, there were some citizens of
Bugg Centre back in the woods, who could pick a
coon out of the highest tree in the darkest night in
the year.

''Did we come down? What else could we do?
We did. We threw the money we had down on the
ground, the Sheriff gathered it up, whistled to his
dogs and went off. Tobe and I slid down, shook
hands with each other mournfully, and in twenty-
four hours we were out of Arkansas. I'll never go
there any more, either on business or pleasure.
Honor? They don't know the meaning of the
word."

CHAPTER VL

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS A $1,200,000 JACK DIDN't

KNOW GREENBACKS WON ON TWO DEUCES

A BOSTON man's NARROW ESCAPE.

'Jack pots," said a veteran campaigner, "is the
devil."

The grammar is bad, the sentiment will be rec-
ognized as irreproachable. The inventor of jack
pots is unknown, but his name has been alternately
praised and cursed by players for ages. Southern-
ers have declared that more than a million niggers
have been lost on bob tailed flushes, but that isn't
a circumstance to the money lost on jack pots.
Of course somebody won the money, but the win-
ner is not entitled to any consideration in a poker
game ; he can take care of himself.

A jack pot is a delusion and a snare. When a
fellow is behind the game a jack pot offers a tempt-
ing chance to play even on one hand. Of five
players it has been calculated that an average of
three will stay in a jack pot, and it usually has
been sweetened three or four times before the
opening. That makes a pot worth playing for.

Now suppose you pick up a pair of jacks. Some
players will pass on jacks and not come in unless
another player opens the pot. Most players come

86 JACK POTS.

in on jacks. Now comes the question how to play
it. If you are the last to say, you may be pretty
certain that you have the best hand to go, but if
you open it lightly all hands will stay, and some
one with a measley pair of fours will draw out on
you. Therefore it is good play to open the pot for
the limit, and thus scare away the little fellows if
you can. But if they stay and you do not better
your hand, you may be certain that you are beaten,
and your only chance to win is to make a big bluff.
If you help your hand, even with a small pair, you
have a right to think that you have a winner.

On the other hand, if you start out with threes
or better, it is good play to open the pot for a small
sum, so as to let in the other players. Then there
is a chance that some one with a pair of queens
or better will draw another and beat you, but it
won't do to think of that, or you can't play cards.

The most aggravating hand to have on opening
is two pairs. It is much easier to draw one more
to a pair than it is to make a full hand out of two
pairs, yet they have such a ponderous' look that
you can't help playing them after the draw. The
safest policy is to call the first chance if you are
raised.

The real agony, however, comes to the man with
a small pair who sees the opener, catches his card
and then has it beaten by the opener, who also
catches his card. Of course, arguing from the

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 87

ethical side, he ought to be beaten; the opener
having the best hand at the start ought to win
out; but that reasoning will not pacify the loser.

One of the problems of the jack pot is in rela-
tion to splitting openers. Suppose you open on
jacks and all the others come in cheerfully, and
you realize that you are up against threes and at
the same time discover that you have a four flush.
Then it is your play to split your jacks and draw to
tlie flush. But at the end of the hand you must
show your pair, so you place one jack on the table
in front of you under a stack of chips and let it
lay there until it is time to show up. That is fair
enough and plain enough, but it in a measure gives
away your hand.

The New York Sun comes to the rescue in its
own original way. The question is frequently re-
ferred to its card expert, and he always decides it
in the same way. This is the way he talks :

''A player may open a jack pot on a pair and
split the pair to draw to a straight or flush without
in any manner calling the attention of any other
player to the play. The discards must be placed in
a pile in front of the next dealer, and the players
must discard in order, beginning with the age.
Then the discard pile gives indisputable evidence
of what each player discards."

How deliciously simple that is! The players
must discard in order ! This is a theory, not a con-

88 JACK POTS.

dition. The Sun man apparently thinks that poker
players are like soldiers at roll call each one an-
swering to his name as called and no one daring
to speak out of turn. As a matter of poker fact,
no one ever saw a game where the players dis-
carded in regular order. Some men are always
slow in making up their minds, and the last man is
just as liable to pitch away his discard first, so that
the discard is never a reliable guide as to the
order in which the cards were dropped. Then
again, while two or three men are betting one of
the others is almost certain to pick up the remain-
ing cards and shuffle them or to mix them up in
the fashion some players have of "seeing what they
would have got."

In ideal poker every move is made according to
Hoyle — or the Sun — but poker isn't ideal. Men
will not discard in regular order and there is no
''must" about it. There is no umpire to direct
the play or call down the player who discards out
of his turn. The Sun man has frequently an-
nounced that he is his own authority and it looks
as if he were his own poker player; he plays cards
wdth himself, where everything moves according
to his rules. Nobody else plays that way. In
splitting openers, anchor down the splitter in front
of you, and then there can be no dispute.

Another point while we are about it, which ap-
plies to all kinds of hands. It is a rule in poker

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 89

playing that if the card is faced before the draw, the
player must take it; if it faced while drawing, the
player can't take it. But, what then? Does he
get the next card, or must he wait until the others
are served? There are two opinions. One says
that he ought to get the next card because it
wasn't his fault that the card was faced. The other
says that if an extra card is served that deprives all
the players that follow of the cards they ought
to have had, and that so long as he has to take a
card to which he was not originally entitled, what
difference does it make if he has to wait until all
the others are served? This side seems to have
rather the best of the argument, and it is the view
taken by most poker coteries.

Speaking of innovations on jack pots — pro-
gressing up to aces and then down again — another
one comes to light, but it is not dangerous. It
appears to have been evolved from the active brain
of a St. Louis sport. He says :

"Of late years the old-fashioned ante-bellum
game of poker has been superseded by the plan of
playing all jack pots. This, of course, made
swifter play, while at the same time it enabled
everybody to gauge to some extent the strength
of the hand held by the man who opened the pot.
But the latest evolution of poker is now at hand,
and it consists of allowing pots to be opened on
any pair.

90 JACK POTS.

'That is to say, if A has only a pair of deuces
and is wiUing to take chances he can begin the
betting. Of course, if he is very close to the
dealer he will pass on such a small pair, and will
hold his hand to await the action of B, C, D, et al.

''The advantages of this plan may not seem
obvious, but I have yet to see the poker player who
does not consider it a big improvement on the cast
iron system of adhesion to jacks. In the first place,
it gives more rapidity and excitement, and that is
what the player yearns for. In the next place, it
gives the loser a far better chance to get even.
Everybody will be coming-in on short pairs — tens
and under — and the chances of making strong
hands are increased because of the increased fre-
quency of the draw.

"This open-on-any-pair game is, I think, quite
likely to gain the favor of the pasteboard loving
public, and crystallize into permanent form. The
conservative element will kick against it, but will
finally give way, just as it had to concede the all-
jack system, which was for a long time fought bit-
terly by the ancient regime."

Now doesn't that sound funny. To open a pot
on any pair is precisely what is done now in
straight poker, and the only thing he bars out is
the opening of the pot on nothing, and how often
does that occur in a game? Of course there would
be more pots played, but, what size would they be?

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 9'

It would be a miracle if everyone would pass out if
I wo deuces were openers. There would be a play
on every deal. The whole scheme is rubbish.

General Miles once told a good story about the
biggest jack pot on record. He prefaced it by two
astonishing statements — the first that he did not
play poker himself, and the second that the game
has rather gone out of the army. No one would
think of contradicting the gallant general in com-
mand of our armies, but, at the same time — well,
here is the story :

'T think I can claim to have been a witness of
the biggest game as to stakes that was ever
played."

"Tell us about it, General," said Colonel Ochil-
tree. 'T have some pretty good poker stories in
stock myself."

"And so have I," said Henry Watterson. "For
instance, Joe Blackburn's about the game played
in the trenches at the battle of Shiloh, with a table
made on the bodies of the comrades of the play-
ers."

"Well," chimed in John W. Mackay, "as to
stakes, I will enter a claim for some of the gamcrD
played in the good old days of Nevada, when the
boys had the Comstock lode to draw upon. But,
General, let us have your story."

"It was in the spring of 1865," began the Gen-
eral, "when Davis, Lee and the rest of vou Confed-

JACK POTS.

erates, Watterson, were in full retreat from Rich-
mond toward Danville, and we were pressing you
night and day, hardly stopping to eat or sleep.
On the eve of the battle of Sailor's Creek"

''I was there," chipped in Ochiltree. "It was in
that battle I was wounded."

"That day," continued General Miles, "we over-

The biggest poker game that was ever played.

hauled and captured a Confederate wagon train
and found, greatly to the delight of our boys, that
several of the wagons were loaded wdth Confeder-
ate bonds and Confederate money in transit from
Richmond to whatever place the government now
on wheels might make a stand. The soldiers

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 93

simply helped themselves to the stuff by the hand-
fuls, and the officers, who had a pretty good idea
as to the value of the spoils, or rather, their lack
of value, did not care to deprive them of their
fun.

"At night, when we had knocked off work for
supper and a few hours rest and sleep, I had occa-
sion to ride along the line, and I found a poker
game going on at every camp fire. Stopping to
watch one of the games, this is what I heard :

" 'How much is the ante ?'

" *A thousand dollars.'

" 'And how much has it been raised? Five
thousand? Well, here goes! I raise it ten thou-
sand.'

" 'Good ! I see you and go you ten thousand
dollars better. Twenty-five thousand to draw
cards.'

"Then cards were drawn, and presently a bet
was made of fifty thousand dollars. Some one
went one hundred thousand better, but he was
ruled down. Fifty thousand was the limit. How-
ever, there was five hundred thousand dollars in
the pot when it was hauled in by the winner, who
had three treys and a pair of kings. I expressed
my surprise at the size of the game and told the
boys that they had better go slow or their funds
would run out.

" 'Never fear, General,' replied one of them.

JACK POTS.

'we'll keep within our means. You ought to
have been here ten minutes ago. We had a jack-
pot of one million, two hundred thousand dollars !'

"I think you will agree with me," concluded
General Miles, "that no bigger poker game than
that was ever played."

A sergeant in the Seventh Cavalry, then sta-
tioned in Dakota, told me a story that is a mate

to this. It was at

He made them shell out all the notes
they had stuffed in their clothes.

the very begin-
ning of the war
and his regi-
ment was in Vir-
ginia. He had a
squad out on a
scouting expedi-
tion, and they saw
ahead of them a
small party
o f Confederates
with a wagon.
They gave chase
and the Confed-
erates got away
and left the

wagon,

The sergeant and his men examined the wagon
and found that it was a U. S. wagon, probably cut
out from a train by a daring party of Confederates.

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 95

It contained twenty boxes, which they pried open.
The boxes were full of greenbacks, all brand new.

Not a man in the party had ever seen a green-
back and had no idea that they were good money,
so they grabbed them out by fistfuls, and set down
to play poker with them. In this occupation they
were discovered by another squad of Union troops,
this time headed by a captain, who knew something
about finance. He made them shell out all the
notes they, had stuffed in their clothes, and the
wagon was taken back to camp and a frantic pay-
master.

My friend used to tell this story with tears in his
eyes. If they had only known the value of their
capture they might have taken a couple hundred
thousand apiece, hid it in their clothes, threw
away some empty boxes, and brought the rest vir-
tuously back to camp, and been rich for the rest of
their days. It is rather a curious story, and I
don't vouch for it.

It seems that poker is played in rather peculiar
fashion in the upper circles of New York, if the
following little tale is true. It was a choice coterie
on the top floor of a fashionable Gotham club
house.

The jack pot had been around several times,
and there was an accumulation of dollars in the
centre of the table.

The dealer picked up the cards and threw them

JACK POTS.

out one by one, after the manner of poker games,
and the gentleman on his left discovered that the
first three were deuces. He immediately opened
the pot for fifty cents, which was the terrible limit,
and was rather startled when it came to him again
to note that it cost him two dollars more to get in.
He paid the price, but such was his agitation that
he forgot he had three of a kind, discarded and
drew three.

Before picking up his cards he realized that he
had made a bull. Believing that he had lost all
chance of winning the pot, he was about to throw

down his hand when a
gentleman who sat be-
hind him, and was
well

the
game.

not
na-
re-

versed in
tional

marked, blandly :
"See here, old
man, you have
four cards just
alike. Is t h a t
right?"

"Shut up!"

The dealer leaped to his feet and shouted:
thought you had four of a kind;
where are they?"

growled the club
man. Then, with
seeming indifference, he added: "Fifty up.

Everybody laughed and stayed out — naturally.
Nobody cared to dispute the pot with him, and he
raked it in.

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 97

The occasion being rather phenomenal, he threw
down his cards face up, and he still had two deuces.

The dealer leaped to his feet and shouted: "I
thought you had four of a kind. Where are they ?"

"Four spades and a deuce of hearts," replied the
winner.

There was another laugh all around and the
game went on, and it was not until the next time
they met that somebody thought to ask how he
opened the pot.

He was fortunate that he was not playing in a
cowboy game. In fashionable circles the man
who opens a jack pot when he hasn't openers loses
the pot ; in other circles he loses his life along with
the pot. There are certain men who will not ac-
cept such excuses as "Forgot," "Thought that jack
was a king," or something like that. They see
nothing in it but a deliberate attempt to steal a
pot, and guns are pulled instanter.

In the early 'eighties, when Texas was really
tough, and a man's life was not worth much more
than a mule's, a young Bostonian, just from col-
lege, landed in the Lone Star State. He had three
thousand dollars, a good education and all the
astounding conceit that goes with a college educa-
tion. He was way up in the classics, had a smatter-
ing of the modern languages, thought he knew
"life" in all its phases — having imbibed the idea
from three months' experience in the streets of

98 JACK POTS.

Boston and New York — and had more than a no-
tion that he could go West and carve out his for-
tune as easily as drinking a beer.

The first place he struck was Dallas, and he
dropped a few hundreds there just for a starter.
The further he moved west the easier he became,
and when he got to the limits, he had only about
five hundred of his original three thousand. He
was a gay boy, and rapidly fell into Texan ways,
but somehow he couldn't catch on. An occasional
spurt at cow punching kept his head above water
for a time, but he realized that the day was rapidly
approaching when he would have to return to
Boston with the sad confession that he had
dropped his pile, and would be obliged to run up
against the stern realities of life in the guise of
a teacher of a country school.

It was gall and wormwood to him and he used
every effort to stave ofT the evil day. Among the
efforts was bucking the tiger, but the beast was
unkind. He see-sawed back and forth, but he
could never make a real killing, and it was while
in this precarious state of affairs that he sat in a
game of poker.

The fates looked rather propitious. The four
other men in the game were cattlemen with big
wads and a generous style of betting. They were
also square as a die. Horace — we will call him
Horace, as befits a Boston man — knew that he

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 99

was the best player in the bunch, and if the cards
went his way he had more than a chance of fatten-
ing his wad.

And the cards did run his way. It was a rare
thing that he did not start out with a pair and he
helped his hand about four times out of five. Three
times he held a full house, and he got so that he
was almost afraid to play flushes he held so many.
He really did not dare to play to the full strength
of his hands, for fear of exciting suspicion, al-
though he was playing without a thought of trick-
ery. Once or twice he apologized for his luck, but
the other men laughed good naturedly.

*'Play your luck, my boy," said one of them. 'T
^understand that you haven't had your share since
J striking this country."

This was true enough, and so he played a little
harder, until at the end of three hours he was nearly
four thousand dollars ahead of the game.

Then there came a jack pot. There had been
jack pots before, but nothing out of the way. It
was the Boston man's deal, and when he picked up
his cards he saw that he had a pair of kings, a jack,
a four and a five. There was twenty-five dollars in
the pot to start ofif. Everybody passed and it was
up to Horace. He opened it for twenty-five. Two
men stayed, the other two dropped out.

The first man to draw took one card, the next
man drew three and Horace took three. He laid

lOO JACK POTS.

his pair of kings face down in front of him, tossed
the discard into the deck, and bet fifty dollars with-
out looking at his draw. The man that drew one
card raised it a hundred, the next man dropped
out, and Horace stopped to think.

A one card evidently meant a four flush or a
four straight. If he had caught either Horace was^
beaten, even if he caught the third king; if it was
a blui¥ two kings w^ere good as wheat. He looked
at his draw\ A ten spot, a six and a deuce. So he
still had his pair of kings. He tossed in another
hundred. The cattleman came back at him with two
hundred and fifty. Then Horace picked up the
cards lying in front of him, more with a desire to
have time to think than any other motive.

Then he felt a cold chill stealing up his spine
until his hair crept on his head, and a sickness came
all over him. He had kept the jack and thrown
away one of the kings ! He sat there a full minute
and did some very rapid thinking. If it had been
an ordinary deal he would have thrown his hand
into the deck without comment, but it was a jack
pot, and he had opened it, so that he must show
his hand.

He said afterward that what he should have
done was to have thrown down his hand, explain
how he had made a mistake, and forfeit the po[.
He thinks they would have accepted the explana-
tion in good faith, although he admits that they

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. loi

might not. But all he realized then was that he
was in a terrible predicament. To open a jack pot
without openers was generally regarded as an at-
tempt to steal the pot, and treated as detected
theft usually is in Texas. Here he had been win-
ning right along, and holding phenomenal hands,
and he couldn't help but feel that under the same
circumstances he would have had suspicions. He
saw himself in imagination shot full of holes, or
maybe with a dirk thrust into his vitals, and the
folks at home never knowing what had become of
him.

While all these gloomy thoughts were running
through his head, he mechanically raised another
hundred, which was the worst thing he could have
done, because while he had an excuse before lifting
his cards now he had none. He realized that also
when it was too late, and another cold chill w^ent
capering along his spinal column.

The cattleman fingered his cards, and Horace
saw that it was either a call or a lay down, and then
would come the show down of openers, and
then

Just then there broke out a terrific commotion
in the rear of the saloon, which w'as also an eating
house. The cook had upset a pan of gravy over his
legs, and in his jumping around had upset the
stove, and the kitchen was on fire. As the whole
structure was of wood and the fire department any-

X03

JACK POTS.

thing but prompt or reliable, there was a strong
probability of what the reporters call a holocaust.
The cook and his assistant, two men who were
eating, the barkeeper and the boss tore around with
buckets, people

rushed in from
the street, and of
course the game

broke up
and there.

Just then there broke out a terrific commotion in the rear of the saloon.

of the cattlemen swept cards, chips and money into
his hat and all five players lit out. Horace said that
when he dropped his cards on the floor he felt as if
he was getting rid of a thousand pound weight.

ALL ABOUT JACK POTS. 103

When the excitement had subsided, and the fire
was extinguished with small loss, all hands went
back to the saloon to take a drink. Then the cat-
tleman took off his hat and emptied the contents
on the bar.

''What's to become of this?" he asked.
"Fm willing to divide it," said the Boston man,
promptly.

'Tf you had the best hand it's yours," returned
the cattleman. ''What did you have?"

"I had only a pair of kings," replied Horace,
looking him squarely in the eyes. That was no lie,
because he did have a pair of kings, although he
was fool enough to throw one away. ^

"I had a four flush to go," said the other man,
"and I didn't fill, but I made a pair of queens. The
pot's yours."

Horace felt another great weight lifted off his
mind when he realized that he really had had the
winning hand, and yet he felt ashamed to be the
recipient of such generous dealing. But the four
cattlemen were game, and he had to take the pile.
He made a mental resolve to set in with them
again, and lose it all back to them, but they left the
next morning and so he had to go back to Boston
with five thousand dollars to the good.

CHAPTER VII.

THE SCHEME FOR A NATIONAL JACK POT A JACK POT

WITHOUT CARDS.

The jack pot is so infernally fascinating that it
has a tendency to turn the brain of its votaries. It
is only on this hypothesis that we can explain the
wild schemes which originate on this basis. One
would think that enough money has been lost on
the pot without devising any plan to swell it to
mammoth proportions. Such is the scheme of the
National Jack Pot, which is credited to a New
York enthusiast.

The basic idea is to have a prearranged series of
poker games played throughout the country by
parties of local card shufflers. Take Chicago, for
instance. On a certain evening six of the best
poker players in town will set down to a game.
Each man has $2 in the pot, and it takes $5 to come
in.

There being $12 in the pot to start with, it fol-
lows that if only four men come in there would be
$32 to win at the very lowest. But, of course,
there would be a bet or two, so that the pot might
be twice that sum ; but, as they say in faro, let her
go as she lays.

Now, under the terms of the compact, all over

104

SCHEME FOR A NATIONAL JACK POT. 105

the Union, from the sterile shore of Maine to the
sunny slope of California, poker players will be
stacking up on this same proposition. Now comes
the beginning of the novel part of the performance.
The winner of each pot does not pocket his earn-
ings. The $32 in every case is reserved for a grand
fund to be made up by the — let us say — hundred
games played on this system. That would make
$3,200 in all.

The winning hundred would next meet in con-
vention and arrange for a new set of winners.
Twenty games of five players each would be or-
ganized. Each man must put up $2 as before,
with $5 to open. The Hmit, it should be noticed, is
$5 all through this series of games.

Here we would have twenty jack pots, with $10
in each. Let us suppose that three men will stay
in each pot when it is opened; that would give
twenty $25 pots, which makes $500 more to add
to the original sum of $3,200.

The twenty men who come out of this second
ordeal as winners now form another series of five
games with four players each. Of course there
would be an adjournment between each series to
settle any little differences of opinion, and deter-
mine the choice of a referee, whose decision in all
cases would be final. When the twenty survivors
come together for their five games under the same
terms that have previously prevailed, it follows that

io6 JACK POTS.

$2 for each man and $5 to open would mean
$28 at least for the pot at each table. Five times
$28 gives $140 to swell the sum already in hand.

Now comes the final bout. The five veterans
who thus come out of the various ordeals sit down
together to a thrilling final game. The pot would
be $3,200 plus $500 plus $140, or $3,840. It
would still be a jack with $2 apiece to come in, or
$3,850 in all. The limit is still $5. The winner of
this final pot takes all the money.

Now, what do you think of that, outside of a
lunatic asylum? The man out of whose brilliant
brain emanated this piece of nonsense, pretends
that everybody he met enthusiastically endorsed it.
Alas, alas ! There is one thing he forgot in the
scheme. He hasn't allowed for any betting after
the draw. It appears to be a show down affair all
the way through. Wouldn't that make a real ex-
citing game?

The impression that the man doesn't know what
he is talking about is deepened by his reference
to Bret Harte. "Without poker," he observes,
sapiently, ''we would have had no Bret Harte. It
was poker that inspired those immortal lines, be-
ginning :

'Which they had a small game
And Ah Sin took a hand.' "
Oh, no; my son. It wasn't poker at all. It was
euchre, as you will see if you consult the poem and
do not depend on your memory.

SCHEiME FOR A NATIONAL JACK POT. 107

However, the idea is original if it is foolish, and
we will give him credit for that.

As a genuine novelty a jack pot without cards
is entitled to pre-eminence. It was played in the
glorious climate of California, and a man on the
Argonaut was one of the party.

There were six all together, five men coming
into the mountains to have a fishing spree, and the
sixth man was Long Tom, the guide.

"Jest you all go over into the cabin there and
make yourselves comfortable, while I tend to get-
tin' this stufT unpacked," said Long Tom. 'There
ain't no one thare; my pardner he's down below."

The cabin had two rooms and the one they en-
tered was the kitchen. There was not much fur-
niture— a table of hewn logs, a chair of bent sap-
lings and a rough bench. However, they did not
notice such furniture as there was, for each mem-
ber of the party, as he stepped over the threshold
had his attention instantly attracted by the stove,
and a chorus of ejaculations went up from the
group.

"Well, that staggers me," said the stock broker.
"H'm," said the professor in a mysterious tone,
while he rubbed his chin.

The stove was a plain, small affair, rather old and
rusty, and the only strange thing about it was its
position. Its abbreviated legs stood upon large
cedar posts, which were planted in the floor and

-io8 JACK POTS.

were four feet in height. This brought the stove
away up in mid air, so that the top was about on a
level with the colonel's neck, and he was a six-
footer.

The five men formed a circle around the stove
and stared at it as solemnly as if it were a coffin.
They felt the posts, and found them firm and solid,
showing that the arrangement was a permanent
one. Then they all took a look at the hole in the
roof through which the stove pipe vanished.

Suddenly the stock broker burst into a loud
laugh.

'*Oh, I understand it now," he said.

''Understand what?" demanded the colonel,
sharply.

''Why Long Tom has his stove hoisted up so
high from the floor."

"So do I," said the doctor, "but I suspect that
my explanation is not the same as any one else
would ofifer."

"Well, I will bet that I am right," returned the
stock broker, "and put up the money."

"I am in this," said the judge. "I have a clear
idea about that stove, and I will back it up."

"Make it a jack pot," suggested the colonel. "I
want to take a hand."

The stock broker drew a five dollar gold piece,
from his pocket and dropped it on the center of the
table.

SCHEME FOR A NATIONAL JACK POT. 109

"He has the stove up there," he said, "to get a
better draught. In this rarified mountain air there
is only a small amount of oxygen to the cubic inch,
and combustion is more difficult to secure than in
the lower latitudes. I have heard that if you get
high enough up you can't cook an egg — that is, I
mean, water won't boil — or something like that,"
he continued, thrown into sudden confusion by the
discovery that the professor's eye was fixed upon
him with a sarcastic gaze.

"Is that supposed to be science?" asked the pro-
fessor, mildly.

"Well," said the stock broker, doggedly, "never
mind the reasons. Experience is probably good
enough for Tom. He finds that he gets a better
draught for his stove by having it in mid-air, so he
has it there."

"The right explanation," began the professor,
"is the simplest. My idea is that"

"Excuse me," interrupted the stock broker, tap-
ping the table, "are you in this pot?"

The professor made a deposit, and proceeded :

"Have you noticed that our guide is a very tall
man? Like most men of his height he hates to
bend over. If the stove was near the floor he
would have to stoop down low when he whirled
a flap jack or speared a rasher of bacon. Now he
can stand up and do it with ease. Your draught
theory is no good ; the longer the pipe, if straight,
the better the fire will burn."

no JACK POTS.

'Trofessor/' remarked the colonel, with a cruel
smile, ''I reg-ret to have to tell you that your money
is gone. Long Tom told me on the way up, that
his partner did all the cooking, and he is a man of
rather short stature." The colonel then paid his
compliments to the jack pot, and continued. ''Now,
my idea is that the stove heats the room there bet-
ter than on the floor. It is only a cooking stove, to
be sure, but when the winter is cold it makes the
room comfortable. Being up in the middle of the
space it heats all equally well, which it would not
do if it were down below."

The doctor greeted this theory with a laugh.

"Colonel," he said, "you are wild — away off the
mark. Hot air rises, as any school boy ought to
know, and the best way to disseminate it is to have
the stove as low as possible. According to your
theory it would be a good plan to put the furnace in
the attic of a house instead of the basement."

'T think," remarked the colonel, "that I could
appreciate your argument better if you would
ante."

"Cheerfully, because the pot is mine," said the
doctor, as he deposited the coin. "You will adopt
my idea the minute you hear it, and Long Tom,
who will be here in a minute^ will bear me out.
This room is very small ; it has but little floor space
and none of it goes to waste. Now if he had put
the stove down where we expected to find it Long

SCHEME FOR A NATIONAL JACK POT. m

Tom could not have made use of the area under-
neath, as you see he has done. On all sides of the
supporting posts you will notice there are hooks
on which he hangs his pans and skillets. Under-

' I see you air all admirin' my stove, Captain."

neath there is a practical kitchen closet for pots and
cooking utensils of various kinds. \Miat could be
more convenient ? I am surprised that none of you
have seen what is so apparent.*'

112 JACK POTS.

The judge, who, had been listening to the opin-
ions offered by the others, with the same grim
smile that occasionally ornamented his face when
he announced that an objection was overruled, now
stepped forward and dropped a coin on the table.
He then rendered his decision as follows :

''It appears that none of you have noticed the
forest of hooks in the roof just over the stove'
They are not in use at present, but they are there
for some purpose. I imagine that during the win-
ter pieces of venison and bear's meat dangle over
the stove and are thus dried for later consumption.
Now, if the stove was on the floor it would be too
faraway from the roof to be used for that purpose."

''Here comes Long Tom," shouted the colonel,
who had stepped to the open door while the judge
was speaking.

The old trapper put down the various articles of
baggage with which his arms were loaded, and
came into the kitchen cabin where his guests stood.
He glanced at the group and then at the stilted
stove.

"I see you air all admirin' my stove," said he,
"an' I'll bet you've been wonderin' why it's up so
high."

"Yes, we have," admitted the professor. "How
did you know it?"

"People most alius jest as soon as they come into
the place begin to ask me about it. That's how I
knowed."

SCHEME FOR A NATIONAL JACK POT. 113

*'\Vell, why is it up so high?" asked the stock
broker, impatiently, with a side glance at the well
developed jack pot on the table.

As the novelists say, the interest was intense as
Long Tom grinned until he showed his palate, and
prepared to elucidate the mystery.

"The reason," said he, ''is simple enough. You
see we had to pack all this stuff up here from down
below on burros. Originally there was four j'ints
of pipe but the cinch wasn't drawed tight enough
on that burro that was carryin' them, an' two of
'em slipped out an' rolled down the mountain.
When we got here an' found that there wasn't but
two pieces left I reckoned I would have to kinder
h'ist the stove up to make it fit the pipe. So I
jest h'isted her, an' there she is yet. Say, what's
all this money on the table for?"

There was a deep silence, while all the learned
•men looked at each other, and it lasted so long
that the guide ventured to repeat the question.

'Tt is a jack pot," said the doctor, sadly, ''and
as near as I can make out it belongs to you."

CHAPTER VIII.

WOMEN AND POKER ARGUMENTS TO SHOW THAT

THEY can't play AND A STORY TO PROVE
THAT THEY CAN.

Can women play poker ?

Ought women to play poker?

These are two distinct questions and must be
decided on their separate merits.

Take the last question first. Ought women to
play poker? Of course. Why not? Don't they
do every thing else that men do ? They have even
had a try at base ball. Women would resent with
indignation the idea that they should be debarred
from cards, and when you once start who is going
to draw the line ? The point that poker is a gamb-
ling game is no point at all, because a bet can be
made on any game, even mumble peg. Society is
always erecting imaginary barriers between men
and w^omen and they are always being overturned.

Women have been insisting strenuously for the
last twenty years at least that they have just sm
many rights as men, and the men have finally ad-
mitted that the point is well taken. Of course, this
has its serious side, as in the case of the lady who
was standing up in the street car. A man asked
her if she was a "woman righter," and when she

114

WOMEN AND POKER. 115

admitted that she was, he told her to stand up and
enjoy her rights Hke a man.

So if a woman wants to play poker she should
not be hindered, but it must be understood that she
has no better right to the top hand than her man
opponent. Cards are not at all gallant, and they
will not run her way just because the fingers that
hold them are fair and feminine.

But now, can a woman play poker? Physically,
of course; but I mean play the game as it should
be played? No, she cannot. And yet they say
poker is like a woman. Uncertain, hard to under-
stand, fascinating, and has to be approached in a
different way about every time you meet her. Then
again, it is only the young and inexperienced that
know all about women, and it is only the fresh
young amateur that knows all about poker. Old
bachelors and married men confess that all they
know about poker is that they ought to stay out of
the game, and can't. Same w^ay about women.
These old and experienced chaps lose confidence
in their knowledge of women the more they meet
them.

I do not contend that no woman can play poker ;
there are exceptions to every rule, and as we shall
see further along, there are women poker players ;
I am talking about women in general. There are
a great many reasons why a woman cannot play
poker.

ii6 JACK POTS.

She is too nervous, and hasn't the physical
strength. It is all very well to play from eight to
ten in a parlor, with buttons for chips and where
the winners give back the money at the end of the
game. And it is easy enough to take a hand with
a party of gentlemen visiting your husband, where
the hands are played to the accompaniment of
laughter and jokes, and all the men are deferential,
and call just to see what you are doing it on, or
let you get away with a transparent bluff, or play
with six cards, because they take pleasure in see-
ing how you enjoy the game.

But that isn't poker. The late Richard Proctor
used to call the usual game of whist "bumble-
puppy" to distinguish it from the real game as
played by experts, and parlor poker is entitled to
an equally derisive name. There isn't one woman
in a hundred thousand who could sit down al a
poker table at eight in the evening and play until
daylight broke in the East. She would faint or
have hysterics, and would certainly have to call
in the doctor next day. When I mentioned
this point to a charming woman the other day she
replied that when women played the gentlemen
would make special rules for their benefit.

That illustrates from what standpoint a woman
views the game of poker. She would exact def-
erence and indulgence; she would regard it as a
personal insult if she were reproached for being

WOMEN AND POKER. ii7

slow or making a misdeal, or committing any one
of the little lapses of which the best of players are
guilty.

Women cannot play poker because they are very
poor losers. Some men are in the same boat, but
they have the grace to hide it as best they can,
but women are not ashamed to get angry and make
an exhibition of their distress. It is impossible to
imagine a woman losing a thousand dollars and
meeting the winner next week with a smooth coun-
tenance. A woman would take it as a personal in-
sult to be called down on a bluff.

No man could play with a woman and be free
to play his hand for all it was w^orth. He would
always be handicapped with the thought that she
was one of the weaker sex. Can you imagine, for
instance, a man who w^as sweet on a girl, beating
a flush that she held ? If he did it would be good-
by to his prospects.

Then again, a woman is a born cheat. No one
who has ever watched a woman play cards will dis-
pute that assertion. In euchre she will renege, and
in every game she will hold out cards, and violate
all the rules of the game, trusting to her sex to
be excused. Her pretty, manners and her flirta-
tious ways are supposed to be an excuse for her
cheating, but they would get very tiresome in a
game for keeps. In a board game like faro or rou-
lette a woman is playing against a machine, and she

ii8 JACK POTS.

has no particular adversary, which accounts for the
fact that women gamble at Monte Carlo and make
no particular scene when they lose, but poker is a
game where personalities count.

I have been told that women make good poker
players because they have an instinct that men
have not. Excuse me if I say ''Bosh." Instinct
doesn't amount to a row of beans in poker. If
women could read faces as claimed and judge from
them what the men really think there wouldn't be
so many unhappy marriages in the world. A man
who sat down to beat a woman in a poker game,
and cast all sentiment aside, could break her if she
were a millionaire. All such stories emanate from
sappy youths who have been playing with the girl
of their choice, or married men who play in the
parlor with beans. Here is a sample of the way a
newspaper man writes when he is short of copy,
and wants to square himself with the fair sex.

''Women are the best poker players, barring
Chinamen. Take a sharp, shrewd, beautiful wo-
man. She can beat a man every time after she has
learned the rudiments of the game. Ladies have
been made natural poker players. They are so coy
and- designing, and dissimulation with them is not
an acquired art. It is their second nature. Decep-
tion is so easy for them that they easily outwit
men. They size up men more quickly than we can
fathom their thoughts.

WOMEN AND POKER. 119

"Have you ever heard a lady exclaim: 'Oh,
how glad I am to see you ; perfectly charmed, don't
you know !" Then you wander away to a secluded
spot and wonder if she was bluffing. Well, you
encounter the same proposition with women in a
poker game, only you haven't got time to take a
secluded walk by yourself and meditate and deter-
mine whether she is bluffing or not, when she says
with a bewitching, coaxing Httle smile, arching her
eyebrows, and glancing innocently at you out of
the corner of her eye, T think my hand is worth
$1,500 more.'

"Ever been there? No? Well, Fve been in a
good many tight places, where I had to think
quickly, but I am free to confess that the v/oman
was too much for me."

The man that wrote that never played more than
five cent ante in his life. The idea of a woman
raising $1,500 with a roguish twinkle in her eye!

A story from Bar Harbor lets a little light in on
the way women play poker. It was some years ago
when poker was taken up as a fad, as automobil-
ing is now, and as w^omen take up anything. A
party of women were initiated into the mysteries of
penny ante, and pretty soon the bridle was loos-
ened and they were playing with white chips at fifty
cents and the limit taken off.

It went on this way for about three weeks, they
meeting every night, betting and bluffing in their

I20 JACK POTS.

''bewitching" way, and thinking they were hav-
ing a terribly wicked time.

Of course there was a tremendous amount of
cheating, and as there happened to be one woman
in the party who didn't cheat, she was soon broke,
and also in the soup to the amount of $300 in the
w^ay of I O U's. She thought she saw her way
out of the dilemma, and resorted to a genuine fem-
inine trick. She ordered four fine gowns from her
dressmaker, and the bill, amounting to $300 was
sent home. The husband handed the amount to
his wife.

She didn't do a thing with it but take it to the
poker table, pay off $200 of her debt, and with the
balance try to win back what she had lost. You can
imagine what happened. She lost her hundred,
and had to give some more I O U's. Then she
put of¥ the dressmaker until the latter got tired
and sent the bill to her husband. Then there was
a scene. She confessed all, gave all the names of
the poker players and the indignant husband wrote
to each one of them demanding the immediate re-
turn of the money won from his wife. Then there
was hysterics all around, the money was returned,
the circle broke up in admired disorder, mutual re-
criminations were the order of the day, and every
sweet player vowed that she would never speak to
any of the others.

Just try to imagine any such scene occurring
among men !

WOMEN AND POKER. 121

And now, having- demonstrated that a woman
cannot play poker it is no more than right to tell
a story about a woman who could and did play
poker. But it will be noticed that we have to go
i)ack about fifty years for an example, and then
there is something supernatural in it.

In the suburbs of Trenton, New Jersey, there is
an old landmark known as the Mills Tavern. This
tavern was also a toll house, and was kept for more
than fifty years by a woman called Martha Mills,
who, by her commission on the tolls she collected
and the profits on the tavern made quite a small
fortune.

To these savings she added some thousands of
dollars made in her dealings with politicians who
came to the tavern to lay plans and pull wires for
the passage of certain laws through the legislature.
As Martha had a keen eye for business she made
these men pay special prices, and her terms were
always cash. She had discovered that a politician
was apt to be here to-day and gone to-morrow, so
to speak. Indeed, she was wont to boast that she
liad very small confidence in human nature, espe-
cially of the male persuasion, and her favorite re-
mark was that she wouldn't trust a man as far as
she could throw a church by the steeple.

Among her other accomplishments ^lartha was
an expert poker player, and coupled with her
knowledge of the game had an uncanny accom-

122

JACK POTS.

paniment that made her a dangerous antagonist.
She would never take a hand unless there were
seven players, and she had an abiding faith in the

number seven.
She explained
that peculiarity
by saying that
she was the
seventh daugh-
ter of a seventh
daughter and
thus had rea-
son to believe
in the number
s e V e n. Her
confidence in this num-
ber always prompted her
to draw cards to it no
matter what odds were
against her. If there was
a seven spot in her hand she w^ould draw to it, and
when she did the pot generally floated her way.

Away back in those olden days there were some
sharp poker players among the New Jersey legis-
lators and politicians, and when they felt like mak-
ing a night of it without being disturbed they held
a session at Mills Tavern, in a big room in a re-
mote part of the house. Here, with a jug
of apple jack on the floor and plenty of tobacco,

" I'm the seventh daughter of a
seventh daughter," said ■
Martha.

WOMEN AND POKER. 123

the players sweated and cussed and rejoiced as the
case might be. There was a kitty, and Martha
was always around to see that it w^as duly hon-
ored.

It was Martha's boast up to the day of her death
that she had never been kissed by a man since her
childhood days, and she won a good many dollars
from men who, more from fun than anything else —
since Martha was no peach — stacked their dollars
against her kisses.

A man from Hunterdon County came nearer
winning the prize than any other. It happened
one night when Martha consented to take a hand
in a game from which one of the players had been
called.

She played that night in great luck, and she
gathered in the chips with such monotonous regu-
larity that at midnight the other players declared
that it was no use trying to break her luck, and
that the game might as well be stopped.

"I'm willing," said Martha, fingering the chips
that were stacked in front of her and making a
gloating calculation of their value.

"Hold on, boys," said Honeywell, a politician
from Cape May County, "let's play one more hand
for a kiss. Martha can bet her kisses against our
money and every kiss shall be valued at ten dol-
lars. What do you say?"

The m^n, of course, favored the proposition.

124 JACK POTS.

"You never knew me to back out of a game of
poker," said Martha, with a confident smile.

The deal went around to Martha before the pot
was opened. Honeywell opened it for $io, the
Hunterdon County man raised it $20 and Martha
stayed with three kisses, valued at $30.

Honeywell, who had opened the pot with a pair
of jacks and who had been playing in hard luck
ever since the game started, threw his hand in the
table with an expression of disgust, and refused
to see the raise. The other four players had not
come in, and the pot w^as between the Hunterdon
man and Martha.

''Cards?" said Martha, as she picked up the pack.

'Til play these," said he, "and bet you $50 I've
got you beat." That meant five kisses if Martha
should call him, in addition to the three already
bet. "Don't be afraid to call me, Martha," he
added, banteringly. "Eight kisses won't hurt you
any more than three will."

"I'm the seventh daughter of a seventh daugh-
ter/' said Martha, as she slowly counted the cards
off the pack. She drew four, threw her discard on
the table, and ran her eyes' over the cards she had
drawn. She contemplated them carefully for a
minute, and then looking her opponent in the eye,
said : "I'll raise you five kisses. I don't w^ant
your money, and my advice to you is to not call
me."

WOMEN AND POKER. 125

Everybody around the table burst into a roar of
laughter.

"Well, Martha," said he, ''you're a cool one and
no mistake. You are trying to bluff a pat hand
with a four card draw. I've got already thirteen
kisses coming to me, but I guess we can both stand
more, so I'll raise you $50."

"I'll see that and raise you five more kisses," said
Martha, calmly. "That's twenty-three kisses I owe
you if your hand beats mine, but again I tell you
to keep out."

"Not with this hand," he replied, with a
chuckle. "I'd rather kiss you thirty-three times
than twenty-three, so I'll raise you a hundred dol-
lars.'^

"Well, sir," said Martha, with a grim smile, "I've
given you a good chance to save your money and
you don't seem to want to do it ; now if you want
to kiss me you've got to pay for it. I'll see your
raise and bet you twenty more kisses that I've got
the winning hand."

The Hunterdon man paused to reflect. It would
be a great triumph to snatch fifty-three kisses from
Martha's lips, but he had been up against her luck
before, and his funds were running low. He
scanned his hand again. It was very stout — three
aces and a pair of fives, and they looked very en-
couraging. At the same time it would take $200
to call, and he was not a rich man. But what could

126 JACK POTS.

he do ? It would never do to sacrifice the pot now.
He shoved $190 into the pot and said: "I'll call
you, Martha. I'm $10 shy."

"I don't play shy pots," said Martha, coldly.

The Hunterdon man had to borrow $10 to make
good.

''I'm the seventh daughter of a seventh daugh-
ter," said Martha, as she slowly spread her cards
on the table. ''I held a seven-spot, and I drew
three more."

If you can swallow that story perhaps this will
not be too strong for };our stomach. It also con-
cerns this wonderful Martha Mills.

The New Jersey legislature was in session and
the railroads had several important bills that they
wanted passed, and as a consequence the lobbyists
and members had money to burn. This made grist
for Miss Martha's mill, and the kitty was a fat
one every night.

One night six crack players came together in
the tavern and Martha was invited to take a hand.
She objected, on the strange ground that she felt
unusually lucky, and suggested that they had bet-
ter leave her out. But all the others protested that
they also felt lucky, and insisted that she should
sit in with them. They adjourned to the private
room and began what w^as probably the shortest
big game ever played.

"Now," said one of the players, before the hands

WOMEN AND POKER. 127

were dealt, 'iet's find out which one of us lias the
least money, and we'll watch his pile and play for
table stakes."

The proposition met with approval of the other
players. The man who had the least money was
Sinclair, an Essex County man, and he had $300.
♦He spread the money on the table, and the next
minute there was $2,100 on the board.

Henry \\'hitehead, a South Jersey assemblyman,
dealt the cards, and the pot was opened by Miles
Graham, who started the ball with a bet of $20.
The player next to him raised theT^et $50. Martha
saw the $70 and the man on her left raised the
bet $50. When it came to the opener to see all
the raises he gave it another boost of $50, and that
was raised $50 and then another $100. Meanwhile
Martha simply trailed along.

Graham was confident that he had the best hand,
for he raised the third, fourth and fifth time, and
came to a standstill only when all the money was
piled on the centre of the table.

'That's a pretty comfortable looking pile," re-
marked one of the players.

"Enough to buy cordwood for winter," said the
hostess.

There were six pat hands out, and Martha was
the only one to draw. ''Well, gentlemen," she
said, ''it's all in the draw anyhow, and if I make
my hand I take the money, It's a show down, so

128

JACK POTS.

here's my hand." She spread out the trey, four,
five and six of diamonds and the ten of hearts.

"Now, Whiter
head," said she,
as she discarded
the ten of hearts,
"you may give*
me the seven-
spot of dia-
monds; then I'll
have a straight
flush."

Whitehead dealt
a card, turning it
over as he threw
it down, and to
the amazement of
the players it was
the seven-spot of
diamonds. The
straight flush was made and it won the pot. This
ended the game, which lasted exactly four min-
utes, and Martha's profits were $i,8oo.

That is the story, and you can believe just as
much of it as you please. When you think it over,
you can endeavor to recall how many railroads
there were in 1850, and how awfully flush the lob-
byists were in those days. You may also ask your-
self whether it was the fashion to play straight

" Now you may give me the seven-spot of
diamonds."

WOMEN AND POKER. 129

flushes fifty years ago. Of course if you can settle
these points to your satisfaction, it will not be diffi-
cult to believe these two anecdotes about the sev-
enth daughter of a seventh daughter.

CHAPTER IX.

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH A JACK POT OF

NIGGERS COLONEL RAFAEL AND

HIS HONOR.

It is a mighty hard thing to escape from the
Oldest Inhabitant in this country. He is ahvays
present and he makes his presence known. The
Oldest Inhabitant has spoiled more than a million
stories, and the man with a string of fish does weli
to get out of the way when he sees him coming.
He has it all made up that nothing that happens
now is or can be as great or as wonderful as some-
thing in the past, and as all his witnesses are dead
and you cannot very well accuse him of downright
falsehood, he gets aw^ay with his statements every
time.

To make the matter worse there are in every
town a number of men who are in training to be
Oldest Inhabitants. They are the fellows who are
always talking about the palmy days of every-
thing— the drama, baseball, hunting, dancing — any
old thing that exists to-day. Poker, for instance.
They don't play poker like they used to do; oh,
dear no ! In the palmy days the games were ten
times as long and a hundred times more exciting,
and as for the money bet — why, it is simply impos-

130

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH. 131

sible to estimate the oceans of money that used to
pass over the cloth.

As ilkistrating the perfectly ferocious way they
used to play poker in the palmy days, the reminis-
cence of a gentleman from one of the lower coun-
ties of Georgia, as told in the Kimball House, At-
lanta, may be taken as a sample.

"Poker is a mighty funny thing," he said. "You
never know when you have run against a good
player. Take me, for instance. I was here in the
Legislature, years ago, and I know I didn't appear
to be what you call up-to-date — not a bit of it. But
I did know how to play poker. Learned it down
our way, with the boys. The members from
Augusta and Macon and Savannah thought they
had a soft piece of pie when they got me into the
first game. Well, you oughter seen how they got
beautifully left.

'T was here in the Legislature the whole of that
session, and I sent supplies home to the folks every
now and then, built and paid for a new corn crib,
bought the old lady a new stove and a sewing
machine and hadn't touched a per diem, which Bob
Hardman paid me in bulk at the end of the session.
I tell you, them fellers was surprised in their man !"

There was high rolling for you! A stove and a
sewing machine and a corn crib — he must have
been ahead nearly a hundred dollars. And here
is what another old-timer of Tennessee let off in
Memphis the other day.

132 JACK POTS.

''Times ain't what they used to be in this town.
In them days, 'long about '66, '67 and '68, money
was plentiful and sportin' people rolled them high.
Jefferson street from No. 9 clean down to Third
street was gamblin' houses, and everyone was
straight except two. And say, that puts me in
mind of a lucky play I had one time, which sounds
like a fairy tale, but it's true. I beat the game at
No. 40 Jefferson street, and they didn't do a thing
but deal the old thing there. It was one of the
brace houses, and the fellers that worked there were
so crooked that they slept in beds made in the
shape of the letter S. They couldn't get no rest
in no other kind.

''Up at the El Dorado on Saturday nights the
keno game began at seven o'clock, at fifty cents a
card, and ran that way until nine, and then it was
a dollar a card. Well, I goes down there one
night, and havin' my luck with me by twelve
o'clock I had salted away $600. Next day it was
rainin' and drizzlin', and I didn't have nothin' else
to do, so I dropped in No. 40 and took a hand at
poker. I knew the game was bent, but I had this
money and didn't mind takin' a chance.

"I hadn't been in the game long until I picks up
four aces. I bet them up and down and all around,
and a little man across the table keeps comin' back
at me. When it came to a show down I had him
beat, and the banker announces that the game is
broke.

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH.

^33

''I loafs around until they gets another stake,
and the game starts again. Would I take a hand ?
Of course I would, and I did. I played along and
finally picks up four deuces. I keeps bettin' them,
until the show
down comes
again, and of
course I has the
other feller
beat. The
banker says the
game is broke
again and I
cashes in. They
were fixin' up
hand s, y o u
know, and I
gets the cooler
twice when i t
was meant for the other
man. The man who was
to get the cooler gets my
hand and of course he
thinks he has the cooler,
so he bets the bank's roll
at me.

''The man who owns the joint was upstairs
asleep, and they went and woke him up, for another
stake, maybe. He comes down all on fire, and he
says :

"Where's the sucker that broke
this game?"

134 * JACK POTS.

'' 'Where's the sucker that broke this game?'

"And I says: 'He's right here, but he ain't no
sucker.' He knows me, and when I says that, he
smiles and says : 'Well, if anybody has to get it,
I'm glad it's you. But, say, you're mighty lucky.'

''And then he turns around and fires the flat-
heads that fixed up the hands wrong. I wouldn't
tell this story unless I could prove it, and the man
that can prove it is right back in the saloon yon-
der."

And the man back in the saloon was called in
and swore to it. Wliich goes to prove either that
it didn't happen or else that they had some mighty
clumsy brace men in the palmy days.

Honestly, though, there were palmy poker days
in the South in the time when cotton was king. A
certain class had a lot of money, and had it in the
very worst way for them. For eleven months in
the year they made nothing, and then when the
crop was sold they got their money all in a bunch,
provided, of course, that they had not mortgaged
it in advance. As a consequence they had a high
old time while the money lasted. It was some-
thing like getting a legacy once a year, and we all
know what the average man does with that. It
was a happy-go-lucky way of living, a peculiarity
of the South, and its only parallel is seen in mining
camps when some formerly unlucky prospector
strikes it rich.

Take a man with ten to twenty thousand dollars

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH, 135

in his pocket, a man who has not known what it
is to finger more than a twenty-dohar bill for
months, and turn him loose, and it is not hard to
predict what will happen. If he knows anything
about cards — and gambling was once part of a
Southern man's education — he is going to play
them to the top of his bent. Then again, the very
nature of a Southern man was to be free and liberal,
and in nothing can freeness and liberality be better
displayed than in betting. Can it be wondered
that many a Southern planter, after selling his crop
in the Xorth, started home with a large wad, and
arrived there with nothing left but his honor?

These times have passed, never to come again.
Poker is still played in the South, and it will never
die out, but the day of big stakes and reckless bet-
ting has gone into history. While it lasted it per-
meated young as well as old. As the old cock
crows the young one learns and the boys were not
a whit behind their seniors.

One December night not so many years ago a
party of seniors in the Southern University were
having a social game of poker. This old college
had turned out at about the same time Howell
Cobb, Alexander Stephens, Robert Toombs and
other famous characters of the oiden days, and was
redolent of reminiscences.

Uncle Tub was the night watchman of the
campus. He saw a light in the room, when all the
rest of the building was dark, and as in duty bound

136 JACK POTS.

he crawled up three flights of stairs and walked into
the room without ceremony, causing the utmost
consternation.

''Hi! I cotch yer!" he exclaimed. "Fse gwine
ter lay it all out ter de doctor 'bout dis yere fust
class sittin' up here after hours an' gamblin', jess
like der Jews."

The crowd immediately surrounded the old man
and protested that they were simply boning up for
an "exam," but Uncle Tub would have none of it.

''Go 'way, boss," he said, sternly. "Ain't I done
heard de rattle of de chips? Ain't I done seed yer
wipe in dat dar jack pot?"

"What?"

"Dat jack pot," Uncle Tub repeated with em-
phasis. "Ain't I done seed yer wipe it in? Don't
tell me."

Uncle Tub's knowledge of the game came as a
revelation.

"Uncle Tub," said the tall senior at the end of
the table, "I am astonished at you. You are a
deacon in the church, and a man of unquestioned
probity, and I cannot believe that you are acquaint-
ed with the sinful game of poker as your words
would indicate."

"Dat's all right, boss," returned the old man.
"I wasn't always a deacon."

"Do you mean to say that you have played
poker?"

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH.

137

''No; I ain't adzactly played de game."
''Then what do you know about it?''
The old darkey had seated himself upon a trunk
with his lantern dangling between his knees, and
he assumed an air of dignity terrible to witness.

"De good Lawd, boss," he said, with his eyes

cast up to the ceiling, "don't ax me about kyards,

kase dem is sinful things, an' I know more about

dem dan you kin tell me in a thousand years. You

boys oughter

bin here in de

days afore de

wall. Dem was

s h o days a n'

dem was s h o

poker players.

I know lots

about de Bible

now an' kin

quote from

Genysis ter de

R e V u 1 a-

shun, but in

dem days I

knows poker

from A ter Z."

"Oh, come now, Uncle Tub," said the senior,
warningly. "We can't believe that."

"Don't believe it? Lemme tell yer," said the

" I was in a jack pot of niggers once."

138 JACK POTS.

old man, waxing indignant. "I was in a jack pot
of niggers one time."

"What's that?" The students had left their
places by this time, and encircled the old darkey,
who swelled with pride at the attention he was at-
tracting.

"I say I was in a jack pot of niggers one time,"
repeated Uncle Tub, "an' Marse Henry won me,"
repeated the old watchman, slowly and thought-
fully. Then he put his lantern on the floor and
told his story.

'-'Dat war long time afore de wah," he said slow-
ly. "Most of de young bucks what come to col-
lege in dem days had der nigger man wid 'em. I

belong to young Marse George B . He was a

Satan, dat boy, but his daddy was er angel.

"Dere was fouh of 'em — all young bucks, jes
like you all. Dere was fouh of us niggers, too ; all
about de same age, an' we all sets dere an' sees de
game. I tell you, chillun, dat was a game. It
kep' gittin' hotter an' hotter. My young marse
lose all his cash an' then he gin to lose what wasn't
cash. He gits madder an' madder. Marse H^nry

C w^on all de stakes, an' jes nacherly keeps on

winnin' lak he born to win.

"Atter while my young marse say:

" 'Damme, dar goes all I'se got in de worl' but
Tobe.' Dat's what dey call me in dem days —
Tobe. 'Fore I knowed it I done heard him say: •

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH. I39

" 'Les make a jack pot outen de niggers.'

''Dey was all in for it. Dey ax de udder niggers
an' yer humble servant to stand in de middle of de
flo', an' Marse George he dole de kyards. He
ketched a good pair, kase he axed me to step up
to de table.

" 'I opens dis pot,' he says, Svid Tobe.'

" '1 stays in it wid Jack,' says Marse Henry

C , axin' Jack, his nigger, ter step 'long side

of me.

''De rest of the gemmuns dey puts dere niggers
in too, an' dar we was, waitin' for de call of de
cards.

"Well, I kaint tell how- it happens, but Marse
Henry C won de whole lot of us, hair an' hide.

"Den he says, 'Good-night, gemmuns,' an' he
walks down stairs, us a-follerin' lak sheep.

"I mout er belonged to dat man to dis day, but
nex' mawnin' Marse George's pa he comes to de
college an' buys me back. Den he tells Marse
George he can't hab no nigger to wait on him."

"What became of the rest of the colored men?"
asked the tall senior.

"Law, honey," responded Uncle Tub, "I reckon
dey was all bought back lak me. But dat ain't got
nothin' to do wid dis. You better stop dis gam-
blin'. Hit'll git ye into tribulation."

Although it is almost a safe bet to say thru all
Southern men play poker, there is a marked differ-

I40 JACK POTS.

ence in the way they play it. Gentlemen of the
old school have a way of playing on honor that is
apt to confuse the moderns, who have reduced the
game to a science. With the latter the "board is
the play'' — that is, only a show down wins, and
what you say goes for nothing. In the old school
a gentleman's word is as good as his cards, and
when Majah Dudley says "I have two pairs, kings
up," and Captain Wing replies, "Mine are threes,"
the Majah throws his hand into the deck, and takes
another drink, without asking for verification.
Common sense inclines to the modern school ; sen-
timent supports the school of honor. It is only
when the two schools come together that there is
any trouble.

Colonel Rafael of Alabama was a player of the
old school. He learned his cards before the war
with a party of rich plantation men like himself,
who made poker playing a pastime but not a craze.
Perhaps twice a month they would meet at the
residence of one of their number, and there on the
broad porch, attired in cool linen, with plenty of
tobacco, and two or three bright colored boys at
hand to furnish mint juleps and kindred beverages
ad libitum, they reclined in easy chairs and whiled
away a couple of hours in a game that never roused
the passions or excited future animosity. The sup-
ply of chips was meagre, and they were used mostly
for anteing, since nearly all the betting was by
word of mouth.

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH. 141

Judge J would say languidly, "I open this pot
for five dollars," and Major P would say, ''Judge,
I'll have to raise you about ten dollars." Where-
upon the Judge would reply, "V\\ call you, Major."
''A pair of tens, sah," says the Major. ''That's
good," says the Judge, and tosses his cards on the
table face downward, and the Major does the same,
and rakes in the chips. Once .i» a while, after a
stiff argument back and forth, the players might
show their hands, just to explain why they thought
they had the other fellow beaten, and then there
would be a great amount of dignified talk about the
peculiarities and possibilities of the great national
game, but no one for a moment entertained the
idea that any one would miscall his hand. A
sharper sitting in such a game would have won all
the plantations in time,- but there was no chance
of such a happening. Strangers were rare in those
days, and when one was introduced he had excel-
lent recommendations.

When the war came, poker was discarded for a
sterner game. The Colonel served through the
entire conflict, and had no time for relaxation.
After the war when he went back to his plantation
he found it only in name. The slaves were gone,
four out of five of his old chummies were dead or
gone no one knew where, and in addition the Colo-
nel needed every cent he could rake and scrape, to
plant crops, make repairs and in a general way put

142 • JACK POTS.

the plantation on a paying basis once more. It
was hard scratching for five or six years, but the
Colonel was not a man to sit down with his finger
in his mouth and cry about the ill fortunes of war,
so that in time he got out of debt, saw^ his w'ay to
a fair income, and felt that he could afford to take
a little relaxation.

It was in the winter of '71 and ^']2 he came
North. He stopped on his way at Richmond,
where he met a few old army friends, and at Wash-
ington, w^iere he met more, and then he extended
his trip to New York, w'hich he had last seen in
1859. -^s may be imagined the big town was a
sight to this fine old Southern gentleman. Very
few New Yorkers realize what an immense change
has taken place in their city since before the war,
and although since 1872 improvement has been
much more rapid, there was enough in '72 to just-
ify the Colonel's amazement. For several days he
w^alked Broadway, curious to see, and an object of
curiosity to others. Before the war the Colonel
would have been no unusual sight, but times had
changed, and he with his stately stride, immense
head of white hair, and calm, imperious air, seemed
like a visitor from a past age.

It was on the fourth day of his stay that the
Colonel met a man he knew. It was in front of
the St. Nicholas, and the friend was one who had
been a lieutenant in his regiment. After Appo-

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH. 143

matox, Lieutenant Wickes studied law for three
years in Baltimore, and then came to New York
to practice. He had been rather successful and
was prepared to introduce his old commander to
several of the best clubs. In fact, they went to one
that very night, and that is where the Colonel had
his introduction to the modern game of poker.

A city judge, a leading physician, a banker, the
Colonel and his friend Wickes made up the party,
and the game was played in a snug room, with
cigars and cocktails handy. For quite a time the
game went on without any special incident. It
was recalled afterward that the Colonel was a
steady loser. Once or twice he called and re-
sponded ''good" in his old-fashioned way, wdien his
opponent's hand was announced, and on the occa-
sions when he was called he announced his hand,
and when beaters were shown, threw^ his cards into
the deck without comment, except a courtly little
bow. It was a game of easy stakes, very little
blufifing, no high betting, and a great deal of talk-
ing and story telling, so that the Colonel might
have imagined that he w^as back on the piazza of
the old plantation.

Then there came a hand in which he was disillu-
sionized. It was the banker's deal, and the Colo-
nel held the age. He got two aces, and it was one
of the traditions of the Southern game to always
raise on two aces before the draw^ Everybody

144

JACK POTS.

came in and the Colonel raised it five dollars.
Wickes and the judge stayed, the physician came
back with ten more, and the banker dropped out.
The Colonel chivalrously tilted in ten, and Wickes
and the judge laid down. The judge saw the raise,
and he and the Colonel drew cards. The judge
drew one card to kings and fives and did not fill;
the Colonel drew three and caught his ace.

The judge bet a chip as a feeler; the Colonel
raised it ten dollars. The judge said to himself;
"He had a pair to go — probably aces. If he is
bluffing I've got him ; if he has
caught anything, even a pair, he
has me beat.
Therefore it is
the best pohcy to
call him now."

The judge
shoved a ten into
the pot, and said, 'T'll
call.''

"Three aces," said
the Colonel, with a
smile.

"Beats two pair,"

said the judge, briefly.

At the same time he spread his hand out on the

table, and then' shoved them into the centre. The

Colonel bowed and tossed his hand into the dis-

They supposed he was about
to have a fit.

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH. i45

card, and raked in the pot. The judge hesitated
for an instant and then stretched out his hand.

''Did you say three aces?" he asked.

The Colonel looked at him in surprise. "I said
three aces, sir," he said, calmly.

The cards he had discarded were lying on top
of the pack, and the judge leaned over and turned
them up. The aces were there, of course, and the
judge dropped them with the careless remark, ''All
right," and sank back quietly in his chair. Not
so the Colonel. For an instant his red face got
redder, and then the color slowly receded, until it
was absolutely pallid. The others noticed the
change, and no one but Wickes could divine the
cause, and not he right away. They supposed that
he was about to have a fit, and the physician was
on his feet in an instant.

But the Colonel recovered his voice, and rose to
his feet where he stood erect as if on parade.

"Wickes," he said, sternly, "you introduced me
here, and I want to ask you a question. Do you
consider me a gentleman?"

"Why, Colonel, what do you mean ?" stammered
Wickes.

"Answer me, sir !"

"Certainly I do. Who has dared to dispute it?"

"It has been disputed, sir," thundered the Colo-
nel, looking at the judge, witheringly. "When a
gentleman makes a statement, sir, and another man

146 JACK POTS.

doubts it, that is a reflection on the first gentle-
man's honor, sir."

''But, Colonel," said Wickes, soothingly, "no
one has disputed your word."

"Yes, there has been one," and he looked fixedly
at the judge.

Even then that functionary did not understand,
but a great light broke in on Wickes.

"Oh, yes ; I see ! You mean that the judge— — .
But, Colonel, that is the way we play poker in New
York. Every player is entitled to see all the hands
played, and the judge had a right to see your
cards."

"A right, sir!" exclaimed the Colonel, angrily.
"Of course you had a right, but the fact that you
insisted on exercising that right shows that you
doubted my word. By gad, sir, I told you I had
three aces, and yet you deliberately looked at my
cards, sir, to see if I spoke the truth ! I have seen
the time, sir, when I would have called you out, sir,
for less than that."

By this time all the men were on their feet, and

they had realized that it was a very serious matter
to the old gentleman. Unfortunately, the judge
was a hard-headed product of Vermont, and
although a gentleman beyond dispute, had no sym-
pathy with such strained notions of honor; and to
him the Colonel's rage was amusing. Conse-
quently, although he apologized, and assured the

OLD TIME POKER IN THE SOUTH. I47

old man that he had not the least intention of giv-
ing him offence, he would not admit that there was
anything wrong in his insisting on a show of cards.
What the others said was to no purpose, and the
final result was that the Colonel threw up his cards,
and left the house.

''VVickes," he said, gravely, when they were out-
side, ''I leave to-morrow for Alabama, and I wish
you w^ere going with me.
Believe me, this is no
country for a gentleman.
I could not live in a place
where a man's word is
not as good as his oath,
and I don't see how you
can. There may be
money to be made here —
I don't doubt ^
it, but where is
the power to

Unfortunately the Judge was a hard-headed
enjoy it, unless product of Vermont.

a man can be treated as a gentleman at all times?
Wickes, it's lucky I didn't have my pistol with me
to-night. Damme, the idea of being asked — good-
by, Wickes!"

CHAPTER X.

POKER AND HYPNOTISM A YOUNG MAN WHO CAN READ

CARDS HOW FIVE ACES WERE BEATEN THE MAN

WHO LAID DOWN A STRAIGHT FLUSH.

It is a mighty lucky thing that the professors
of sleight of hand do not take to crooked card
playing against the professionals, or that crooked
card players do not go through an apprenticeship
in sleight of hand before embarking on their nefari-
ous careers. Of course the sharps think they can
manipulate the papers in a way that defies detec-
tion, but a man like Hermann or Kellar could cheat
them while their noses wxre on the pack.

Hermann, in his day, was fond of playing poker,
but he never resorted to any tricks with the cards
wdiile playing. There would have been no show
for anyone else if he had. Imagine a man like that
sitting in a game unknown with two or three fel-
lows who thought they knew how to stack the
cards ! He could have palmed a cold deck on them
everv third deal if he had wished.

But the real danger to the card sharps will come
when the hypnotists get in their work. At present
hypnotism seems to be in a respectable stage. It
is regarded as something weird and almost sacred,
something like spiritualism, and the experts only

148

POKER AND HYPNOTISM. I49

use it to illustrate a lot of theories about the soul
or the mind or things that nobody knows anything
about. But of late a lot of cold-blooded scientists
have delved into the question, and have pretty
nearly proved that hypnotism can be learned, like
chemistry or any other science.

Now this means a great deal. If there is noth-
ing sacred or holy about hypnotism, and it does
not require that the hypnotist shall be good or
pure, there will be a lot of fellows who will take
it up for revenue only. They are going to use it
in finance and trade, and after awhile some hypno-
tist wall sit down to the card table, and skin every-
body like sixty. Of course, if two of these hypno-
tists run up against each other, there would be a
mischief of a time. But then, I suppose, they
would join hands, form a partnership, as it were,
and keep up the skinning process. That would
create a panic in crooked pokerdom.

The danger is already imminent. Texas has
produced a young man, named Victor Roy, who is
a natural mind reader. He says that as soon as
he looks into one's face for a minute the person's
whole character and antecedents loom up plainly
in his mind. You see, right at the start, he could
size up the man who was trying to do him. Roy
has been known to meet a man for the first time,
and instantly tell him his name, his business, mar-
ried or single, and all that kind of thing. He also

150 JACK POTS.

knows whether a man is' honest or otherwise, and
he could make his fortune as a detective if so in-
chned.

But that isn't a circumstance to his deadly skill
as a poker player. He does not really know how
to play poker, that is, he has never played for
keeps, and it is only recently that he has learned
the relative rank of poker hands. At the same
time it may be remarked that he doesn't have to
learn much more than he knows now.

He has been tested time and time again in games
of poker and never loses. Many noted gamblers
have called on him, . and put him to the test in
games of poker. He eyes each player as they pick
up their cards, and often before the betting begins
he will call out to the man whO' has a flush, threes
or a full, and tell him to take the chips, as he has
the* best hand, and he never makes a mistake in
doing so. A wealthy gambler from Denver offered
him $5,000 a year to travel over the country and
play for him. But Roy refused, saying that for
him to play poker w^ould be nothing less than rob-
bery of his victims. That is very true, but just
suppose that some other man like that without
Roy's scruples should take a tour of the card
iooms!

As a matter of fact, there is good evidence that
some such man is abroad, working his remarkable
powers on the unsuspecting. The tale is told

POKER AND HYPNOTISM 151

about a man who was taken in and done for, and
in order to bring out all the weird effects it is well
to let the victim tell his own story.

''I quit playing poker, not to keep out of the
poorhouse but to save myself from the madhouse.
The last game I played came near sending me to
one of the latter institutions, and since then I
haven't so much as played whist, for at the sight
of the cards I lose all certainty of myself and feel
again the terrible sensations of that last game.

''I had played all my adult life up to four years
ago, and had been singularly fortunate, and to
make a rough estimate I will say that fortune had
favored me to the extent of at least $30,000 up to
the time I am going to tell about. Of course, I
did not save it all, as I was a high liver, but I had
quite a sum with me when one day I took a notion
to go to Havana.

'T was then staying at Jacksonville, and from
there I went to Tampa, and boarded the steamer
Olivette, and was soon out on the Gulf. We had
to touch at Key West, and I knew that we would
have to spend the whole night on the boat, so I
suggested to three other men, all apparently gen-
tlemen, that we have a game of poker. They
assented and we were soon playing in the saloon.

''We had been playing perhaps an hour when I
noticed a commonplace, everyday-looking fellow
about thirty years old looking on at the game

152 JACK POTS.

rather inattentively, as if he took but^Httle interest
in it, but was merely trying to keep himself occu-
pied. Out of mere courtesy I asked him to join
us, and he at first declined, but when all of us in-
sisted he rose up and came over to our table.

''He did not play the innocent, or work ofT any
old game on the crowd, nor did he impress us as
being an expert; just an ordinary gentleman
player. He played as if he were only trying to
pass the time away. At the end of three hours
that fellow, who said his name was Callaway, kept
bobbing up and down and playing such an even
game that he wasn't ten dollars either way from
the starting point.

''It was then nearly midnight, so one of the
crowd suggested that we take ofT the limit, and
bet as high as we pleased during the last half hour.
As no one objected, this was done, and then came
lively betting.

"I must have been $3,500 ahead of the game
when the cards went hoodooed. We had a jack
pot, made up of five-hundred-dollar bills, and for
nine deals no one got a pair to open it. At every
deal we sweetened that pot for another $500.

^'Finally the cards, went to the other extreme
and I could tell from the expressions on the faces
of the other four men that everyone could open the
pot. It was Callaway's say and he tossed in two
one-hundred-dollar bills as a starter. He was met

POKER AND HYPNOTISM. 153

all around and then the drawing began. I neg-
lected to say at the beginning that we w-ere play-
ing the game with all the new-fangled attachments,
such as a 'looloo,' composed of a pot draw of two
diamonds and three clubs, which beats all the other
hands, but which can be played only once in a
single game. We were also playing with a fifty-
three-card deck ; that is, we were playing the joker
to count anything its holder might designate. The
looloo had already been played, and I knew^ that
no man in that crowd could beat the hand I held
when we came to make this last draw.

''Two men stood pat, and the other two drew
one card each. I held four legitimate aces and a
seven-spot. Not hoping for a better hand, but to de-
ceive my opponents as to the strength of my hand,
I discarded the seven-spot and drew one. When
I looked at the new card I could hardly repress a
whoop. It was the joker, making me five aces, a
hand such as was never held before.

"Then the battle began, and I have never seen
such furious betting short of a party of millionaires.
We kept raising the value of the pot, until it was
worth half the salary of the president of the United
States. I bet steadily and confidently, knowing
no hand could beat mine except a looloo, and that
had already been played. Finally all the others
dropped out except Callaway, and to make sure
that he was not betting under a misapprehension

154 JACK POTS.

I reminded him that the looloo had been played.

" 'I'm not betting on a looloo. I'll raise you
$500," he said, quietly.

"As I had by this time put away about every
dollar, and as I didn't care to rob the man, I called
him. He looked seriously disappointed, and I
wondered what the mischief kind of a hand he had.

" 'Is that all you care to stake?' he asked, as if
surprised that I should have lost my nerve.

'' 'Not exactly,' I repHed, getting nettled. Til
just pull in my call, and raise you a hundred.'

" 'Good !' said Callaway, as he met my raise, and
shoved in two hundred more.

"I was beginning to get confused, and was un-
certain of myself. I recalled that Callaway had
shown himself to be a careful better, and I couldn't
understand what impelled him to keep on. I got
rattled as I sat there looking into his pale gray
eyes and eager face. He kept his eyes fastened
on my face while he played, and I began to think
that he could read my hand from my expression.
I made a feeble little raise, and after a long stare
he slowly called my bet.

"With the five aces, I suddenly felt a lack of con- *
fidence, but I spread out the cards on the table, and
said, boldly: 'Five aces ought to take the pot.
Hand it over.'

"I was just reaching out to rake in the spoils,
about $28,000 in cold cash, when Callawa}^ spoke
out in his smooth, easy tones:

POKER AND HYPNOTISM.

155

" 'Not so fast, my friend. You are sufferini.;
from ail optical delusion, caused from over-excite-
ment. Those are not aces you hold, for I have
four legitimate single-spotters,' and he held up his
hand for me to look at.

''Sure enough my eyes told me that he held four
aces and a queen. Then he told me to take an-

" Not so fast, my friend. Those are not aces you hold."

other look at my hand, and to my intense surprise
I saw that I had only a full house on jacks. He
never moved his eyes from mine while he was talk-
ing, and the glances of his gray orbs made me
shiver uncomfortably. So he pocketed the money
while I stood looking on without a protest.
''The three other fellows had stepped to the

156 JACK POTS.

saloon sideboard to investigate a bottle, and as Cal-
laway made the last note vanish they came back to
the table and asked who won.

'' 'I did,' answered Callaway.

'' 'He did/ I said, like a schoolboy learning a
lesson.

Callaway said good-night and stepped out on the
deck, while I fell back in my chair, cursing my bad
luck. In a few moments one of the men called to
me to come on deck for a breath of fresh air. The
voice seemed to awaken me from a kind of sleep.
I looked down at the two hands on the table and
saw, as plainly as I ever saw the light of day, that
the hand I had held was made up of four aces and
the joker. I picked up Callaway's hand and was
dazed to see nothing better than a bobtail flush.

"I realized then that I had been cheated; that
the fellow had cast over me some sort of magnetic
spell and convinced me against my reason that his
hand was the better. Then I made myself ridicu-
lous. I ran on deck and charged him with cheat-
ing me.

*'He was quite gentle and courteous in his man-
ner. He suggested to me that I was still suffer-
ing from the effects of over-excitement and had
better go to my bed and sleep it off. Of course
the three other players sided in with him. They
told me that I was surely insane to charge Calla-
way with cheating, after I had told them in the

POKER AND HYPNOTISM. 157

saloon that he had won. From laughing at me
they finally got angry, and in the end pushed me
into my stateroom and locked me in.

"I saw Callaway a year later in Memphis, and he
was then giving exhibitions of wonderful mesmeric
power, and then I was fully satisfied as to the cause
of my fearful loss on board the Olivette."

This is wonderful enough to be true, and yet it
is not entirely convincing. It is just possible that
the good drinking of the Olivette's sideboard went
to our hero's head. There is a case on record
where a winning hand was beaten without any re-
course to hypnotism, and the other fellow didn't
have a gun, neither.

''You see," said the man who was the victim, 'T
was a young fellow who got tangled up in poker
with a lot of boys that could manipulate the cards,
and I knew it, but I relied on my luck to pull me
out even in the end.

"As may be imagined, I got it in the neck with
distressing frequency, but at last my time came.
One of the best of the sharks was dealing in a five-
handed game, and it was my age. As I picked up
my hand after the cards had been dealt I discov-
ered that I had the king, queen, jack, ten and nine
of diamonds — a straight flush.

''The three men behind me passed out in suc-
cession, and I said to myself, 'That's just my luck.'
But the dealer stayed, and I of course raised him.

158 JACK POTS.

He saw my raise and asked me how many cards I
wanted. I told him to help himself, and as he dis-
carded three cards I argued that, he had two aces,
and oh ! how I prayed that he would get the other
two, so that I could paralyze him.

''After he had skinned his hand the betting be-
gan, and it continued until my money was all up,
and of necessity there was a call. I asked him
what he had, and he replied, ''Four aces," the hand
which I had given him credit for, and which my
hand beat. I knew I had the winning hand, but
somehow or other I said "It's good," and threw
my hand into the deck. It touched the dead-wood
before I could recover my scattered senses, and of
course I was done for.

"Then I turned over my cards and showed him
what I had, but he took the pot. It was the first
time on record that a straight flush was beaten by
four aces without a gun. It was simply because
for one second I got rattled. I have never held a
straight flush since and never expect to hold one
again. The man who doesn't know how to treat
them right when they come along doesn't deserve
to get them."

The only match for this painful incident that I
know occurred in Wyoming to a friend of mine.
He had been sitting for three hours in the worst
kind of luck, when he picked up a pat straight
flush. It was his age, and there were five other
players, and every mother's son passed out.

POKER AND HYPNOTISM. 159

He was so exasperated that he first spread out
his hand on the table, then he tore up the cards,
and finally he swore that he never would play
poker again. And he kept his word — for nearly
three weeks.

CHAPTER XL

A LIFE-LONG GAME THE GREAT MORGAN-DANIELSON

BETTING MATCH FOUR HOURS TO OPEN A JACK

POT THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A NAP.

As I remarked at the beginning, there is no
doubt that it is both an advantage and an objection
to the game of poker that it has no ending. There
is no stipulated number of "points," no bank to
break, and no time to quit, so that, if the money
held out and there was a sufficient number of re-
cruits to take the place of the dead and wounded, a
poker game, like the brook in the poem, could run
on forever. Even with the original players in-
stances are not uncommon where men have played
for thirty-six hours or more, until tired nature
asserted herself and called the game. Of course,
if recesses are taken, a game can go on forever.

Edward W. Pettus, at one time senator from
Alabama, was an inveterate poker player, and if the
time that venerable gentleman spent in the game
could be summed up many years would stand on
the debit side of the ledger.

There lived in Selma, Alabama, the town where
the senator hailed from, in the early '70s, a wealthy
railroad president, Major Lanier, of the old Ala-
bama Central Railroad, running between Selma

160

A LIFE-LONG GAME i6i

and Meridian, Miss., now a part of the Southern
Railway system. The major and the senator were
boon companions, with a friendship ahiiost as
strong- as Damon and Pythias, and they used to
spend their summers at the major's summer home
in Talledega, above Sehiia.

Here they put in about all of their time playing
poker, and no one else was permitted to take a
hand in the game. It was strictly a gentleman's
game; very few chips and an unlimited number of
I O U's. There was no hurry or excitement about
the playing. Each gentleman took all the time he
wanted to make his bets, and it was not unusual
for the game to come to a standstill for fifteen or
twenty minutes while a good story was told/ Five
to ten dollars was about the average bet, but there
was no limit, and once in a while the stakes mount-
ed up into the hundreds.

Old Manuel, the major's body servant, was
always present at these games. He was the drink
mixer and dispenser, took care of the chips and
cards, and kept account of the winnings and los-
ings. At the end of each year he would render
accounts promptly, and whichever was indebted to
the other would hand Manuel a check to square up
the game. At the end of one year Pettus owed the
major $10,000, another year the major was in-
debted to the senator for $13,000, and so the
game would run. And this was kept up until the

i62 JACK POTS.

major's death, when the senator stopped playing,
as he would not take up with another partner.

This, however, is not the record of one game,
but of a series of games. A single game that last-
ed a lifetime, and even longer, is much more won-
derful. Governor Hogg, of Texas, never plays
poker himself, but he can tell more good stories
about poker than any other public man in his sec-
tion of the country. His story of the great Mor-
gan-Danielson game, is one of the most unique in
all the history of poker.

Old man Morgan was one of the most inveterate
poker players in the Lone Star State away back in
the '50s. His passion for the game was rivaled
only by that of his bosom friend and neighbor,
Major Danielson. The two old cronies used to
get together every night and indulge in a quiet
game for table stakes. Sorhetimes they lost
large sums to one another, but they were both
enormously rich, and at the end of a year the bal-
ance was generally pretty even.

One night they started to play soon after sup-
per— folks dined in the middle of the day in those
times. The exact date was June 15, 1853, and
the hour was 8 p. m.

After they had been playing a couple of hours,
Morgan, who had just finished dealing, straight-
ened up in his chair and became rigid. The next
moment he kicked himself vigorously, because he

A LIFE-LONG GAME.

163

feared he had betrayed to Danielson the fact that
he had an extraordinary hand. But the Major
had also caught something wonderful. Each was
so excited that he didn't notice the perturbation
of the other. • Both were so nervous that they
could scarcely speak.

At last Major Danielson started the ball. He

Inside of a couple of hours the action became fast and furious.

bet cautiously at first, and so did Morgan. Then
the betting became livelier, and inside of a couple
of hours the action was fast and furious. After
midnight the bets became larger. Each of the
players had had about $10,000 on the table when
the game began. At 2 o'clock in the mornine all
the chips were stacked up in the centre, but neither
of the men showed any signs of weariness.

i64 7ACK POTS.

At Morgan's suggestion they then made it a
no-hmit game. Then they began to bet with thou-
sand-dollar checks, and pretty soon the table
groaned beneath the weight of wealth, or it would
have done so if the wealth had been in gold or sil-
ver. Daylight found them still betting, and the
players had written their checks for the aggregate
amounts they had wagered during the night.
Each of these checks bore five figures.

Stopping only for meals, Morgan and Danielson
continued to bet against each other on these won-
derful hands until nightfall. Then they adjourned
for six hours sleep, and resumed the play again at
midnight. They kept it up for the rest of the
week, and for the remainder of the year. At the
end of the year each of them had invested his en-
tire fortune — cash, bonds, stocks, livestock, land,
houses, everything — in that game. People began
to fiock to Austin from all parts of the State, and
from the neighboring principal cities, to see the
great Morgan-Danielson game.

The war came along, but the game never
stopped. Morgan and Danielson were both too
old to be conscripted, so they stayed home and
went on with their betting. Finally it became ap-
parent that neither would ever call the other, so
the hands were sealed up Separately in tin boxes,
and the rest of the deck was put in another box.
The three boxes were deposited in the National

A LIFE-LONG GAME. 165

Bank, each bearing the seals of the players and of
a dozen witnesses. Then Morgan and Danielson
went on with their betting.

Both of the old men died in 1872, having been
playing for twenty-one years, but they left instruc-
tions in their wills to the effect that their eldest
sons should carry on the game. The heirs did so
for five years. Then one of them was killed in a
railway accident and the other went crazy.

Their eldest sons, however, are carrying on the
game in the same old way. Every time either of
them gets a few hundred dollars together, he goes
to Austin and raises the other fellow. Both fami-
lies are as poor as church mice now, and it is all
they can do to get the necessaries of life, but they
are game to the core, and so long as either of them
can earn a cent the world will never learn what sort
of hands old man Morgan and Major Danielson
drew on that balmy June evening, more than forty-
six years ago. The heirs know, but they are sworn
to secrecy.

Taking this story to be strictly on the square, it
is easy to guess that each man held four aces, and,
as they were not playing straight flushes, each had
an invincible hand. How they each got four aces
is another story. Probably some youngster of the
family rung in a cold deck on the old gentlemen,
and then, when he saw the mischief he had done,
was afraid to acknowledge the trick.

i66 JACK POTS.

For a straight out, continuous game of poker the
following instance is probably the best on record.

Twenty-five years ago there were half a dozen
men in New Jersey who never failed to play a
stiff game of poker when they came together.
They were Oliver Wilson of Barnegat, Silas Dan-
iels of Philipsburg, Hosea Brockway of Princeton,
James Howe of Ewing, John Strange of Titusville
and William Tomlirison of Burlington. All these
men were rich, and when they were once interested
in a game of cards they bet with a recklessness
that always astonished those who happened to be
looking on. In those days star chamber sessions
were almost unknown, and the players were as
likely to get into a red-hot contest with the paste-
boards in a hotel bar room or the sitting room of
a tavern as anywhere.

At that time deer hunting in Atlantic County
was looked upon as the best sport it was possible
to find in the state, and in the fall hundreds of
men went to the pines for the purpose of hunting.
The headquarters for these hunters was McDon-
ald's tavern, a barn-like structure in the midst of
the woods, where sleeping, eating and drinking
accommodations were furnished at somewhat ex-
travagant prices.

Rough as it was, Andy McDonald's tavern was
patronized liberally by a big gang of free money
spenders, and during the deer-hunting season the

A LIFE-LONG GAME. 167

establishment was the scene every night of drink-
ing bouts, good natured fistic encounters, rifle
practice, in which bullets were shot across the bar
room at a white ring chalked on the wall, and all
kinds of card games.

One night Silas Daniels, John Strange, James
Howe and Hosea Brockway met at the tavern.
Strange was considered one of the best poker play-
ers in the State. His nerve was as steady as the
foundations of the earth, and when he took a
notion to raise a bet he did it as if he had the
United States treasury at his back.

When the crowd was properly keyed up, Andy
McDonald, who was chief dispenser of liquid joy,
and who always had an eye out for his own welfare,
said :

''Mr. Strange, playin' any cards nowadays?"

"No," replied Strange, "I ain't had what you
might call a real lively settin' for a good while."

"Feel like playing a few^ hands now, Strange?"
asked Daniels, carelessly.

"You know me, Daniels," replied Strange. "Fm
always lookin' for chances of that kind."

The two men walked over to a table that stood
on one side of the room. At the table sat James
Howe and Hosea Brockway engrossed in a game
of seven-up.

"Gentlemen," said Strange, "what do you say;
shall w^e make this game four-handed ?"

1 68 JACK POTS.

''Four-handed seven-up?" asked Howe.

''Not much," said Strange, contemptuously.
"Poker."

"Well, I reckon it would be more interesting,"
laughed Howe. "How about you, Brock?"

"Bring along the chips, Andy," shouted Brock-
way, joyously^ "and a brand new pack of cards.
Strange is out for a game to-night, and I guess
we'd better give it to him."

The cards and chips were produced, and at nine
o'clock the four men began what proved to be the
most remarkable game of poker ever played in the
State. The news spread rapidly through the tav-
ern that Daniels, Howe, Strange and Brockway
had got into a game of poker, and every man went
to watch it. The players w^ere used to this sort
of thing, however, and made no objection, unless
someone made remarks on their manner of play-
ing; then that man would have to leave the room,
or something would break.

The players were feeling their toddies pretty
keenly, and the game opened with a bet of $i,ooo
in bank notes made by Daniels. Strange looked
out of the corner of his eye for a moment, and
then laid down his cards. Brockway did likewise.
Howe called the bet and won it on three deuces.
Daniels'was bluffing; when he laid down his hand
he had only ace high.

The pace was now fairly set and the game went

A LIFE-LONG GAME. 169

briskly on. On the next deal Daniels had revenge,
for he got back his $1,000 and $800 besides that
Strange had risked on a pair of kings. That win-
ning was doubly satisfactory to Daniels because
it was off Strange, and it nettled Strange to have
Daniels crow over him.

Drinks were had and the game proceeded. A
jack pot was started and then one of the most
remarkable features of the game took place. It
lacked a few minutes of ten o'clock when the jack
was declared, and although the cards were dealt
as often as possible, it was two o'clock in the
morning when openers were caught.

Brockway was the lucky man. The jack pot was
then worth about $2,000, and he had a pair of
aces. He opened it for $1,000 and Daniels stayed.
Howe and Strange threw down their cards. Brock-
way drew three cards and caught another ace;
Daniels held three kings. Brockway slapped up
$2,000 and Daniels tilted him back a like amount.
Brockway saw the raise, and, filling out a check
for $5,000, laid it on the pile of bills in the center
of the table.

''Brock," said Daniels, sharply, 'T believe you're
bluffing. I'm going to see your hand, anyhow. I
call you."

Brockway laid down his three aces. Daniels
crossed his legs, pulled his hat down over his eyes,
said, 'Tt's yours, old man," and knocked on the
table for Andy to bring the drinks.

Z70 JACK POTS.

That was better than a $10,000 winning for
Brockway, but he did not let his elation appear.
It was late, but nobody thought of going to bed.
Lighting cigars, the players began another hand.
Howe was lucky man that deal, and he raked in
about $2,000, to which each player had contrib-
uted nearly an equal share. Then the game went
on without any one losing or winning any great
amount until noon, when it was stopped for awhile
so that the players could eat. The food was
brought and spread on the table upon which they
were playing, and as soon as it was swallowed the
cards were dealt again.

At midnight the players took account of
their chips and money and found that each
had about the same capital that he began the game
with. They had worked twenty-seven hours and
had nothing to show for their labor.

''This is the funniest game I ever got into," said
Strange. ''We had a jack pot that it took us four
hours to open, and now, after all this sweating and
betting nobody's any better off than they were
when the game started."

"Shall we quit?" asked Howe.

"Quit? No!" cried Strange. "I ain't going to
leave this table until I've won enough to pay me
for sitting here."

"That's the way I feel about it," said Daniels.

"I propose this," chimed in Brockway. "We'll

A LIFE-LONG GAME. 171

play the game until somebody is broke, and if any-
body falls asleep or quits the game before that
time, he's got to pay each of the other players
$1,000."

''It's a go," said Strange, and the others nodded
their heads.

This put a fresh interest into the game, and it
was played vigorously until noon. Twelve hours
had been added to the session, which had now
lasted thirty-nine hours, and still the original cap-
ital of each player had not been materially les-
sened. All of the players were sleepy, but none
of them was disposed to take a $3,000 nap, and
they fought heroically to keep their eyes open.

Another twelve-hour lap was begun. By this
time the news of the big poker game at McDon-
ald's had reached the surrounding towns and men
came in from every direction to see it played out.
There was no railroad at that time running any-
where near McDonald's tavern, but several enter-
prising stage drivers ran excursions from the town
to the tavern, and reaped a rich harvest.

In the forenoon of the next day Strange struck
a streak of hard luck. He couldn't get a winning
hand, and he chipped away until his funds were
greatly reduced. At last he caught four deuces.
He bet all he had in sight on the cards, and when
he was raised he drew a check for $5,000 and threw
it on the table.

173

JACK POTS.

"I reckon that's a bluff," remarked Daniels. "I
guess the hand is worth seeing, anyhow." He
called the bet.

''I want to see a piece of that myself," said
Howe, showing up $5,000.

"Fm in it, too," observed Brockway.

There was something like $30,000 in the pot,
and Strange's four deuces were good. The turn

in his luck woke up
Strange, and he played

a slashing game all
through the day, but
somehow the capital of
the players was shifty,
and would return to
them.

At six o'clock
that night ac-
counts were
made up again,
but there was no
material change
in the finances.
The game had
been running
sixty-nine hours,
and the players hadn't had a wink of sleep. They
were hardly able to hold up their heads, and
they drank strong coffee until it failed to have
effect.

And in less than a minute every man in the
game was sleeping.

A LIFE-LONG GAME. 173

For another hour the game dragged along in a
Hstless way, because the senses of the men were
so dulled by lack of sleep that they hardly real-
ized what they were doing. Finally, Howe
dropped his cards, saying, "Fll pay the $3,000,
boys: Fm willing to give it for a nap."

His head fell forward on the table, and he was
instantly in a dead sleep, and in less than a minute
every man in the game was sleeping like a log.
They were carried to bed, and were dead to the
world for twenty straight hours.

Howe paid the $3,000 and said he did not be-
grudge a cent of it. He said it was the sweetest
sleep he ever had in his life.

As it happened he was just about three thousand
dollars ahead when he collapsed, and so was no
loser. The game thus lasted seventy hours, and at
its close no one player was out more than twenty-
five dollars. As Strange remarked, one such game
was enough to last a lifetime.

CHAPTER XII.

ABOUT BLUFFING $200,000 ON A PAIR OF TENS A

BLUFF THAT TURNED INTO A FLUSH MAJOR

EDWARDS AND THE TENDERFOOT.

The bluff is half the game of poker — some young
players think it is the whole thing, until they learn
from bitter experience. One of the painful epi-
sodes of a budding poker career is to go out on
a bold bluff and be called down in an instant, or
be raised out of his boots, and have to lay down
ignominiously. After a while a fellow gets hard-
ened to that sort of thing, at least enough to hide
his real feelings, because no one enjoys being
called on a bluff; whereas, the rollicking joy that
overwhelms his soul when he gets away with the
bluff is better than two pots w^on in a legitimate
way. Perhaps the best plan is to follow the exam-
ple of our German friend Fritz Vonderhannes.

"Veil, I dell you how it is," said he. 'T dinks de
way to pluff is to vait undil you gets apout dree
aces, and den sock it to dem."

There is no doubt that it does help a bluff to
have a little something to back it up, although
there are players who claim that they can do better
execution when they are absolutely bare.

A gentleman who is well known in society cir-

174

ABOUT BLUFFING. I7S

cles in New York recently sat in a little game at a
dinner resort in Twelfth Street, and during the
evening peddled out about twenty dollars on a half
dollar limit.

He had beastly luck, but he was buoyed up by
the feeling that things would eventually come his
way, a feeHng that other poker players have felt
at times; in fact, many times. It was a jack pot,
and the deal had gone around many times, but
when the pot was opened he had his usual hand —
five nothings. Yet he remained, feeling that this
was his last chance.

''Five." he said when asked to state the number
of cards he wanted, and he was accommodated.
As he picked up the first card he uttered an ex-
clamation. With the second card he said, ''Great
Scott !" With the third "Holy Moses !" With the
fourth silence and likewise when he accumulated
the lifth.

It was not his bet, but he shoved in the limit
at once, and had to withdraw it, because the opener
wanted a chance. Then he saw the bet and raised
the limit. The other players looked alarmed. Only
one stayed and raised, and he only raised a quarter.
The gentleman of the five-card draw again ven-
tured the limit, and was astounded and mortified
to have the compliment returned.

"I guess," he said weakly, "you can take it.''

"The dickens," said the other fellow, in an ag-

176 JACK POTS.

grieved tone. ''I thought you had something. I
have a full house."

And the gentleman who drew the five cards said,
with dignity, ''I can bluff on a pair of deuces, but
when I have nothing I can't."

Very few people can now recall the notorious
Sarah Althea Hill-Sharon divorce trial in San
Francisco. Judge Terry, who was killed by Justice
Field's bodyguard, Nagle, was Miss Hill's attorney
in that case, and during the trial endeavored to
have produced in court in evidence of Senator
Sharon's maintenance of the plaintiff, the million-
aire's check stubs. The effort failed, chiefly from
the showing made by the defendant that the checks
would throw very little light on the subject. Nine-
tenths of the private checks drawn by Sharon were
payable to the order of ''Cash," and neither checks
nor stubs indicated the age, sex or social condition
of "Cash." The fact was that nearly all of Sharon's
private checks were in settlement of poker ac-
counts.

Not that Sharon always lost at poker; he nearly
always won. His total winnings in the Pacific
Club were said to have been more than a million
dollars. The play there was tremendously high,
and there was a regular clearing-house performance
after each game, each player settling with the oth-
ers by checks, and it might happen that Sharon
would draw a half-dozen checks after a game in
which he was ahead.

'it

ABOUT BLUFFING. I77

He played a great game of poker, both in kind
and size, but his immense wealth gave him no ad-
vantage because his antagonists were also multi-
millionaires, men like Ralston, the capitalist and
banker. Senators Jones and Stewart of Nevada,
Flood of the Bonanza firm, and that set of high-
rollers.

One of the tales of the Pacific Club is of the
night when Ralston won $200,000 on a pair of
tens. Five of the big fish were in the game and
they were playing jack pots. Sharon opened and
Ralston and two others stayed.

There was some light chipping of $100 or
$200 several times around, when Ralston
strengthened his play and began raising by thou-
sands. Sharon and Ralston soon had the play to
themselves, and it was not long before there was
$150,000 in the pot. Then Sharon met a raise
with a $50,000 counter. Ralston studied only a
moment and then came back with a raise of
$150,000. Sharon did not take long to decide his
play.

*T quit, Bill " he said, and shuffled his cards in
the deck.

Ralston was so delighted over having made his
bold partner lay down that he spread his hand, dis-
closing a pair of tens. Sharon never told what he
held in his hand until after Ralston's death. It
was a pair of jacks.

178 JACK POTS.

To go in on a bluff, and get beaten, and then win
out after all, is a rather unique experience that
could only hapj)en to a newspaper man, so we will
let him tell it.

"I'll never forget," said the Old Reporter to the
Young Reporter, ''one game of poker that was
played at police headquarters when the reporters'
room was a dirty, rickety, shabby hole on the top
floor. Our great game generally began at 1 1 p. m.,
when the news was getting too late to telegraph
unless it was very big. It was penny limit up to
12, then five-cent limit to i a. m., then ten-cent
limit up to 2, then a quarter hour of jack pots with
a twenty-cent limit.

''The usual quiet game continued on this occa-
sion and at two o'clock I was two dollars out. Dol-
lars were as big as stove plates to me in those days,
nor, by the way, have they got over their inflated
qualities yet. Then the jack pots came my way
and I enriched myself with a few fat ones. Then
I got wrecked on a couple of false ones and stood
a loser once more.

"There was a slick crowd around that table, six
being the limit of players. Presently one of the
boys started a nice jack pot with a boost of twenty
cents before the cards were drawn. I looked at my
hand and saw four fat diamonds and a club, al-
ways a tempter. I should have come in and said
nothing, but, you know how it is with a flush —

ABOUT BLUFFING. I79

there are so many possibilities — I not only stood
the raise but went twenty cents better. It went
around that way until the first man hoisted it for
another limit, and all stayed to me and I was fool
enough to give it another lift. That scared all out
but the first man, and he stayed.

'The cards were dealt. I did not look at mine,
but when the other fellow raised I gave it a gentle
boom for twenty coppers more. I was watching
my antagonist and thought he was putting
on rather too broad a grin for his conscience, but
he raised all right. Then I picked up the card that
had been tossed me, and it was the ace of spades.

"A bob-tailed flush stared me in the face. I
was now out about three dollars, and, feeling ner-
vous, I think I would have presented any man
w^ith fifty cents who would have been so kind as
to kick me for getting into the game, but the devil
took hold of me and I went in for a bluff. Well,
sir, the other fellow assisted me.

"My hand for all he knew was good for a flush,
a full house or four of a kind, but Jim (never mind
his last name) was a bold player, and I did not
know what to make of him. He was nervous all
right, but I began to believe that the nervousness
was a symptom of a good hand on his part and I
began to shake a little myself.

''Under ordinary circumstances I would have
dropped, but I was reckless by this time, and bor-

i8o

JACK POTS.

rowed a ten from one of the winners. The other
boys began to get excited, and I think I got a bit
excited myself as I said to Jim, 'Say, suppose we
throw aside the Hmit.'

"He agreed and I planked down the ten. It was
the first time on record that the limit had been
lifted and the boys looked worried about it. Jim
took out a yellow envelope, opened it and laid $15

on the table,
just one-half
his salary. I
did not mind
that, for Jim
had an income
and was com-
paratively well
ofif.

''I sat there,
studying that
bobtail flush
and thinking
how I could
get out of the
hole I was in.
Then I did a desperate thing. I took out my
watch and said I would lay it against forty dollars.
It was a present from a politician and cost a cool
two hundred. I put it up as confidently as I could,
but my hand shook and I knew that Jim saw that
I was rattled.

"1 took out my watch and said I would lay it against

forty dollars.

ABOUT BLUFFING. i8i

" 'Old man,' said Jim, 'I know you are bluffini;-
right through and I hate to take your money. I
call you and I have three of the prettiest aces in the
pack.'

"He laid them down, and a sickly feeling came
over me as I thought of what I would tell my wife
that night. Down on the table I threw my hand,
and I cussed to myself, although I was by no means
a cursing man. Then Jim gave a gasp and said:
'Well, I'll be jiggered ! If you had not all the
symptoms of a bluff, I'll eat my hat !'

''I was in a fainting condition by this time, and
only said : 'Don't, get gay. Take the money and let
me get over the agony?'

" 'Take the money?' he yelled. 'What in blazes
do you think you've got?'

" 'Why, a miserable bobtail, of course.' I re-
plied. 'Hello! What's this?'

"I picked up the ace of spades, and saw the word
joker on it for the first time. It was one of these
jokers that are fixed up like an exaggerated ace
of spades, and across the top was marked in pencil
'deuce of diamonds.' I had an ace high flush!

"Just before I entered the game it was discov-
ered that the deuce of diamonds was missing and
the joker was put in to take its place. I tell you
I felt mighty mean over that pot, and did not want
to take it, but Jim would not have a division.
That's the last game I ever played or will play, and
I advise you to take warning."

1 82 TACK POTS.

The Young Reporter said he would, but he sat
in a game that night just the same.

Speaking of bluffs recalls a story that illustrates
the old adage that there is an exception to every
rule. It is the rule in poker that friendship ceases
when the game begins. No matter how much pre-
liminary chaff and chatter may go on before or dur-
ing the game, the true player must steel his heart
to the fact that the fellow on the opposite side of
the table is his antagonist, and must not be shown
any mercy. Of course it is all right to give him
a loan outside, but any signs of leniency toward
him during the game might well rouse a suspicion
of collusion. Yet there are times .

In the '8o's when all Dakota was on the boom,
the sporting fraternity held high carnival. The
boom burst, or faded, or settled down into an en-
during prosperity, whichever way you choose to
look at it, but it was lively while it lasted. Not
that everybody made money. Oh, no ! There are
some men who have an unhappy faculty of always
arriving too late, or of landing on the back of their
necks when everybody else is on his feet. Among
this sort of driftwood was one Harry Charlton,
from somewhere in the East.

He had about five thousand dollars when he left
home, and by all rights he ought to have made a
heap of money in buying and selling lots, but
somehow he managed to always get the short end

ABOUT BLUFFING. 183

of the bargain. The result was his pile steadily
diminished, and when he finally drifted into Fargo,
he was pretty well discouraged. After looking over
the ground for a week, he concluded that he would
go into some respectable business, say, a grocery.

He did not know anything about groceries ex-
cept in a general way, but he had a thousand dol-
lars and could get credit for as much more, and
with an experienced clerk — well, you know how a
man will persuade himself in such cases. So Charl-
ton rented a store, paid a month's rent in advance,
and negotiated for a fine stock of groceries.

While he was waiting for the men to fix up his
store, he got acquainted, no difficult matter in
those days, and among his new friends was Major
Edwards, the well known newspaper proprietor of
Fargo, w^ho was known all over the State. Ed-
wards gave Charlton a pufY for his grocery store,
and in a few days they became quite chummy.
This was not to be wondered at since Maje — as
everybody called him — was the soul of good na-
ture and Charlton was a bright and educated
young man, with pleasant ways.

As may be imagined it did not take Charlton
long to get into a poker game ; in fact he got into
one every night. He was just a fair, ordinary
player, but inclined to recklessness and not an
adept at hiding his feelings. He would have been
pie for a professional, and he knew it, but he felt

1 84 JACK POTS.

safe in following where Maje led ; a man who would
not cheat or tolerate any crooked work in others.

On Monday morning Charlton was to open his
new store, and on Saturday night he was sitting at
a round table with four other choice spirits, hav-
ing a parting seance, because, although he did not
say so to the others, he had told himself that really
he ought to settle down into a respectable man of
business, and leave such frivolities to men who had
no stake in the country. And while he was about
it, he enjoyed himself to the utmost.

The game see-sawed for a couple of hours, and
then everything went Charlton's w^ay. As the say-
ing goes, if he drew to a steamboat he could catch
a river. If he had been a professional he would
have broken every other man at the table, but it
was evident that he played more for fun than
money, and a dozen times he refrained from press-
ing an advantage where another man would have
been merciless. As it turned out perhaps it is just
as well that he acted in such liberal fashion.

At one o'clock two of the players quit the game
broke, and that left Charlton with Maje Edwards
and Stanley Huntley (afterwards so well known as
''Spoopendyke"), two of the best players in the
Northwest. This is the place where he should have
risen and quit also, but he held on. In less than
a half hour he was sorrv he didn't.

His luck seemed to have taken wings. It would

ABOUT BLUFFING. 185

not have been so bad if he had .drawn poor hands,
Init he kept picking up threes and flushes and even
full hands, only to find that he was held over nearly
every time. The result was that his winnings melted
like snow in the sun.

It was a very painful situation and Charlton
felt a cold chill stealing over him, to be succeeded
by a feeling of exasperation, the very w^orst thing
that can happen to a man who wants to win. He
began to bet recklessly, and try to force his hands
to win. Edwards and Huntley at first felt amused
and then pitiful, and each hinted more than once
at quitting but this only angered the young man.

Then there came the crisis. It was Edwards'
deal and Charlton's age. Huntley came in on a
pair of nines, Edwards had a pair of tens and Charl-
ton a pair of aces. He raised ten dollars before
the draw, and Huntley laid down. Edwards stayed,
and he and Charlton both drew three cards. Maje
caught another ten, and Charlton did not help his
hand. Huntley, who was lying back easily in his
chair, smoking a cigar and watching the fray, said
afterward that he could read the fact that Charlton
had failed to help his hand as easily as if the an-
nouncement had been written on his face. If Ed-
wards dia not ixaJ it likewise he must have forgot-
ten his cunning.

"Chip " -aid Mr.je.

"Ten rtr!!-..-.' V . -der," said Charlton.

i86 JACK POTS.

"Twenty more," retorted Maje, placidly.

"Charlton came back with twenty more, and Ed-
wards after contemplating him for a minute out the
curner of his eye, Ufted the pot a single dollar.

"I advise you to call," he said, quietly.

"Not on this hand," said Charlton, with a great
attempt at steadiness of manner. "I'm going to
win enough on this hand to stock my new grocery
store."

"And if you lose there will not be any grocery
store," observed Huntley, smilingly.

Charlton gave a little nervous start but pulled
himself together very quickly, and going down
into his clothes, pulled out a wad that represented
every cent he possessed, as he had paid out very
little cash on his new venture. He counted off note
after note until he had a stack before him.

''Raise you six hundred dollars," he said, boldly.

"Whew!" whistled Huntley, while Maje Ed-
wards leaned back in his chair and looked at Charl-
ton with a twinkle in his eye.

Charlton felt himself getting sick under that
piercing gaze. He realized when too late that
Maje had him sized up, and that he was beaten.
At the same time it came to him with terrible force
that his grocery store was going to be knocked
on the head, or else he must go heavily in debt.
It would have been a relief to have been able to
kick himself for his freshness, but he bitterly told

ABOUT BLUFFING.

187

himself that he would have plenty of time for that.
Just now he had to keep a stifY upper lip, and take
kis medicine like a man.

It seemed an interminable time until Edwards
did anything. He took a fresh cigar from his
pocket, lit it, took a half dozen pufTs, looked at
Charlton through the smoke, and then said slowly,
"When did you say the store will open?"

"Monday morning," answered Charlton,

-_ through his teeth, w^ith an

inward curse at what he re-
garded as playing with his
_^_ feelings as a

cat does with a
mouse.

"Hum," said
Edwards. Then
he fingered his
cards again,
and slowly laid
them on the
table. "Well,"
I guess you
have the bet-
t e r hand.
Three tens are
generally good, but not to-night."

Then he threw his hand into the deck, arose and
put on his hat.

" When did you say the store would open? "

1 88 JACK POTS.

''We might as well quit, Eh, Huntley?" he
said.

Huntley assented and as they turned to go they
looked back at Charlton. He had gathered the
money into his pockets and had his chips in his
hands ready to have them cashed, and he said noth-
ing until he and the others went through that nec-
essary performance in the bar room.

Then he got between Huntley and Edwards and
said with a very unsteady voice :

"I'm a tenderfoot, but I'm not entirely green. I
know just what you did to me to-night. Before I
sat down I made a sort of vow that I would not
play again, and now I'm going to keep it. But
before I quit, I want to say that I never can ex-
press my gratitude"

"Here, here," said Maje, hastily. "I don't know
what you're talking about. Come along, Huntley.
Goodnight, Charlton. Let me know when you
get settled and I'll send a man down to write up
your place."

CHAPTER XIII.
TOM Custer's luck — a girl makes the best draw on

RECORD HOW A TOWNSITE WAS WON ON TWO

DEUCES LUCKY BALDWIN'S BIG PLAY

There is no end to queer luck tales in poker an-
nals, which is not to be wondered at since poker
is made up so largely of luck. The saying: 'Tt's
all in the draw/' has passed into a proverb, al-
though it isn't exactly true, yet it is true enough
to tempt many a player to his ruin. Careful tables
have been prepared showing what the chances are
of catching certain fillers to pairs, two pairs, flushes
and so forth, and we are assured that the player
who studies these chances and plays accordingly,
w^ill win more than the fellows who play without
any rule, and just come in because they feel like
it. That may all be true, although I do not think
the system has ever been tested, and everybody
knows thiat the system player in faro is generally
standing around the table looking at the other
players and wishing some one would stake him.
To put it in effect would be to eliminate all those
delightful slices of luck that drag a man into the
game when he has only a pair of deuces and he
knows to a moral certainty that the other fellow
has at least two pairs.

189

I90 JACK POTS.

Captain Tom Custer, who, with his famous
brother General Custer, was slaughtered on the
Little Big Horn, was a dashing poker player. He
played without any apparent style or reason, some-
times coming in on the most ridiculous hands —
such as a nine and ten, or standing a raise on three
cards of a suit, in hope of catching two more to
make a flush — and he made them win often enough
to cause remark. He used to make the remark,
half true, that he would a little rather start out
with nothing in his hand, because then he had a
better chance in the draw.

The Seventh Cavalry was a great poker playing
organization, from the general down to the pri-
vate, and Captain Tom didn't miss many games,
when he was off duty. He did not win all the time
but the other players always knew he was in the
game.

One night a party of four were playing, and
Custer had been playing his usual reckless game.
Finally it came to a hand where there was consid-
erable at stake, Custer having raised two or three
times with nothing in his hand. When it came to
the draw he skinned his hand and found nothing
better than the six, seven and ten of spades, the
four of clubs and the jack of diamonds. He threw
away the club and diamond and asked for two
cards.

It is the rule in poker that on the original deal

TOM CUSTER'S LUCK.

191

if a card is faced the receiver must take it, ])ut in
the draw if a card is faced he cannot take it, but
must receive another in its stead. He picked up
the cards as they were dealt to him, and the first
was the eight of clubs. As he reached out for the
next card it struck his hand in such a way as to
turn it over, and there lay the king of Spades !

Custer ripped out an oath, he was so exasperated
at his bad luck, and of course gave away his hand
in so doing. He got a roar of laughter in return,
as another card
was dealt him,
which he received
in sulky silence.

Then the bet-
ting began and
when it came
around to Custer
he raised every-
body. Of course
he was chased
up, but he kept
coming until the
others were
forced to call

, . -r-« 1 Each was confident that Custer was bluffing.

him. liach man

had a stiff hand and each was confident that Custer

was bluf^ng, out of sheer rage.

The instant he was called his expression of

192 JACK POTS.

gloom changed to a grim smile, and he laid his
cards on the table face upward. They were the
six, seven, eight, nine and ten of spades. After
losing the king by mischance, he had actually
caught the nine, giving him a straight flush !

That game ended right there, it being conceded
that the devil himself could not beat that luck.

This, however, isn't a marker to the story of a
girl's luck in the draw.

It was a rather long voyage from Rio Janeiro to
New York on the old Brazilian Line, and there
were only nine passengers in the first cabin on the
occasion when this wonderful game occurred.
Among them was a pale, delicate and very nervous
young man who was accompanied by his sister, and
a solid, phlegmatic individual of about fifty years
of age.

About five days before the ship reached home,
these two men got to playing freeze out in the
smoking room. The game started with dollar
stacks, just to pass away the time, as so many
games start, but as the nervous man lost steadily
he wanted a chance to get even, and they decided
on a ten dollar limit.

Now everybody knows that a lot of money can
go across the table in a ten dollar limit game if the
cards keep running the same way, and if ever a
man had a run of hard luck it was the pale, deli-
cate chap. No matter what he held the solid man

TOM CUSTER'S LUCK. 193

beat him by a spot or two, and the worst of it
was that the hands were always too good to lay
down without a struggle. He had a queen full
beaten by four fives, and a king high flush of
spades by an ace high flush of diamonds. It did
not seem natural that bad luck should run one way
so persistently in a perfectly square game, but it
did, and the game was square beyond the shadow
of a doubt.

The last night out from New York the young
man was out $1,000, and there came the crisis, as
it is bound to come in every game. And, as in so
many other cases, it was a jack pot that started
the ruction. This one started at five dollars and
crept up and up with each deal, until all the chips
were in the middle of the table, and still neither
the nervous young man nor his stolid opponent
could get openers.

Everyone of the cabin passengers was inside
watching the game, but not one knew just what a
state of anxiety that nervous young man was in
except his sister, and she was about as much
wrought up as he was. She would have been more
so if she had known that the roll of bills that he
now pulled from his pocket contained all the
money he had in the world. The stolid man also
produced a wallet from his pocket and laid it in
front of him.

They kept dealing and passing for fully twenty

194 JACK POTS.

minutes, while every one was breathing hard and
staring at the cards as if the fortunes of empire de-
pended on the deal. The stolid man, however, was
as cool as the conventional cucumber, and seemed
to be perfectly indifferent as to what became of the
mass of money in front of him. Finally the young
man rose from the table on his opponent's deal.

''I have heard that there's luck in a new player,"
he said. ''If you've no objection, deal this hand to
my sister."

''Certainly," assented the stolid man; and the
girl, her face flushed with excitement, took her
brother's seat.

The stolid man dealt the cards and the girl, in
the mincing way peculiar to women in parlor
games, picked up each card in succession, and held
them so that her brother, who stood directly be-
hind her chair, and everybody else near by could
distinctly see them. The first card was an ace, the
second an ace, the third was a queen, the fourth
an ace, and the fifth was an ace. Four aces and a
queen and a thousand dollars in the pot !

"Open it," whispered her brother, "and play it
for all the money."

She opened the pot for ten dollars and the stolid
individual promptly raised her ten. He was raised
in return, and the nervous man suggested that the
limit be taken off. The proposition was accepted,
and in an incredibly short time all the young man's

TOM CUSTER'S LUCK. 195

money, amounting to about a thousand dollars,
was in the center of the table, together with an
equal amount of his opponent's cash.

''Cards, if any?" politely asked the dealer.

The young lady, throwing her four aces exposed
on the table, answered ''Four," and quick as a
flash, four cards off the top of the pack, lay in front
of her.

No one who witnessed the scene will ever forget
it. The young man only said "Oh !" but it was like
reading a death warrant. Then, pale and tremb-
ling, he staggered to the door and went out on the
deck, and it is a mercy he did not throw himself
overboard.

Of course the girl had to take the four cards
dealt her. She explained her apparent streak of
idiocy by saying that in her excitement she had
got the game mixed with old maid, and as the aces
matched of course she had to discard them. This
left her with the queen, and she seemed to feel
dreadfully for a moment that she would be an old
maid. When she had finished explaining, and
looked around and saw the expression on the spec-
tators' faces, she for the first time realized what she
had done.

All the money was up by this time, and it was a
show down, so the girl picked up the four cards
that had been dealt her, and slowly turned them
over.

196

JACK POTS.

There were three more queens among them!
The stolid man held a small full and politely passed
the money over to her. Then she went on the deck

to find her
brother, and he
acted Uke a
man saved
from the gal-
lows when she
passed the
money over to
him. That was
probably the
luckiest draw
on record.

In pretty
nearly all these
stories of big
luck the hands
chronicled are
also big. As a
rule, it is four
aces or a
straight flush
that takes the
pot ; anything
story. Now, as
stakes are very

Pale and trembling he staggered to the door and
went out on the deck.

less would seem to spoil
a matter of fact, the
rarely won on big hands

the

biggest

Of course, a real big

TOM CUSTER'S LUCK. 197

hand, like fours of anything will generally get the
pot, but there is more than likely to be nothing
out against it except a pair or two, and the fours
win no more than three little ones would have
done. Then again it has happened very frequently
that large pots have been raked in on very small
hands.

Back in the '50's, when the northern portion of
the Territory of Dakota was hardly more than a
bleak waste of uncultivated ground, the town of
Pembina was founded by Enos Stutsman, a man
as remarkable for his eccentricities as he was for
his physical deformity. He emigrated to Dakota
from the huckleberry districts of Connecticut and
located in the upper Red River Valley, where he
filed and proved up on 320 acres of land, which was
the ground on which Pembina now stands.

Stutsman had the head and body of a giant, but
his legs were hardly more than a foot long, and he
was unable to travel without the aid of two short
and powerful crutches. He was a shrewd, calcu-
lating fellow and soon became a recognized leader
among the handful of emigrants who had taken up
their claims in his neighborhood. As a political
diplomat he never had his equal in the territory,
and for four consecutive sessions he was chairman
of the council in the upper branch of the territorial
legislature. He was also one of the most famous
draw poker players in the territory.

198 JACK POTS.

Among Stutsman's close friends he numbered a
pioneer named Judd La Moure, who owned a Hue
of stage coaches running between Grand Forks
and Pembina. The advent of the railroads killed
Judd's coach line finally, and he settled down into
a profitable grocery business in Pembina.

It was these two men who played one of the
stiffest games of poker that was ever played in the
Territory. The combat came off in the old Levee
Hotel in Yankton in 1862, and it lasted from 10
o'clock on "Friday morning to 3 o'clock on Sunday
morning. During its progress the people of the
town assembled in the hotel and watched the two
men as they fought with the tenacity of bulldogs
over the pile of red, white and blue chips. The
legislature was in session at the time, and as Stuts-
man, who was chairman of the Council, refused to
leave the game, that branch of the legislature ad-
journed until the following Monday, and the mem-
bers watched the game to the finish.

Early in the game Stutsman's luck was wonder-
fully good and he played with a recklessness that
surprised everyone. Later on, the tide turned
against him, and the chips began to flow in the di-'
rection of La Moure, who sat with his slouched hat
pulled over his eyes watching every move of his
opponent. Slowly but surely Stutsman's chips
went over to La Moure's side of the table, and
work what trick or artifice he would, he could not
turn them back.

TOM CUSTER'S LUCK. 199

Matters went this way until past midnight on
Saturday, when Stutsman threw two $500 bills on
the pile of chips in the center of the table and
called a $1,000 bet made by La Moure. Stutsman
held a king full on queens, and he felt pretty sure
that the pot was his, but when La Moure threw
down his cards there were four deuces.

At this display, Stutsman fairly gritted his teeth
and exclaimed :

'Tm getting tired of this infernal run of luck.
Judd, I tell you what I'll do. You've won $3,800
of my money. If you put up $3,800 more with it
I'll stake the town site of Pembina against you, and
will play for it in a lump to win or lose at one
deal."

Judd accepted the proposition at once, and the
two men shook hands to ratify the agreement. The
news spread rapidly, and the crowd around the
table increased to suffocation. After some more
talk it was agreed that the hand should be dealt
by E. A. Williams, of Bismarck, the speaker of the
House of Representatives. The cards were to be
dealt face up. When the five cards had been dealt
each man was to discard and draw, the cards be-
ing thrown face up by the dealer as before, and
when the hands had been dealt, the highest hand
was to take the pot.

Excitement ran high as the deal began. To
prevent trickery, although no one had any sus-

200

JACK POTS.

picion of foul play, Williams was seated in the cen-
ter of the table with his legs turned under him like
a Turk, in the full glare of the oil lamp that hung
suspended from the ceiling. The friends of the
two players crowded around the table and Wil-
liams was threatened with summary vengeance if
he should in any manner manipulate the cards so
as to give either man an advantage.

Deftly Williams shufifled the cards and squaring

them slipped
one from the
top of the pack
and laid it
under La
Moure's nose.
It was a deuce
of clubs. Stuts-
man caught
the queen of
spades. The
next card
came off and Judd got an-
other deuce. The four spot
of spades turned up under
Stutsman's nose and his brow
wrinkled a little. Again the
cards fell and Judd placed the ace of diamonds be-
side his two deuces while the jack of spades looked
up into Stutsman's face. Once more the dealer laid

The game was over.
Judd had won.

TOM CUSTER'S LUCK. 201

down the cards and Judd claimed the queen of
clubs while his opponent caught the ace of spades.
Stutsman's face began to brighten. He saw the
possibility of making a flush but the next card to
him was a heart. However Judd had not bettered
his hand and had to draw three cards to his two
deuces.

Stutsman's friends tried to persuade him to draw
four cards to the ace but he wouldn't listen to
them, and discarding the heart, he drew one card,
hoping to fill the flush. The onlookers were wild
when Williams threw three cards to Judd. They
fell face up — the queen of clubs, jack of diamonds
and ten spot of clubs. He had not bettered his
hand, and his opponent smiled grimly as he saw
how severely fortune must snub him now if she
failed to bring him a winning hand ; for if he paired
any of the four cards he held he must beat Judd's
hand; besides, there was a possibility of his filling
the flush. Judd, on his part, had evidently lost
hope. He rested his arms on the table and dog-
gedly watched Williams as he turned to Stutsman
and slipped a card from the pack. All stretched
their necks to catch sight of the card. It was the
eight of clubs.

The game w^as over. Judd had won, and as he
shoved his hand over the table to Stutsman the
latter grasped it and shook it as if he had forgotten
that it had played havoc with his fortunes. He

203 JACK POTS.

kept his word and deeded the 320 acres of land
to La Moure.

La Moure sold a large portion of the land, and
realized many thousands of dollars, especially when
the railroads gave Pembina a boomi Stutsman died,
in 1880, and was buried in the cemetery on the
hillside half a mile north of Pembina. The only
monument to his memory is the County of Stuts-
man.

A story of luck at poker would not be complete
without some reference to Lucky Baldwin of the
Pacific Slope, although, from all accounts, such
happenings must have been ordinary occurrences
to him.

Banker Ralston sat in this game, and the betting
before the draw had been very heavy. All fell out
but the banker and Baldwin. The latter had three
queens, and, with that peculiar "hunch" which he
seemed to possess, he sized his opponent up for
three aces. Now, even with two aces it would be
a difBcult matter to bluff Ralston out of a pot
and with three aces it would be impossible. He
must outdraw him or else lay down.

Ralston drew two cards — he had three aces, as
Baldwin had guessed — and Baldwin hesitated
whether he should take one or two cards. Finally,
he held up a king to his three queens, and drew
one card. He skinned the cards in an anxiety he
had never felt before and to his great joy beheld

TOM CUSTER'S LUCK. 203

the smiling face of another queen. He said after-
wards that a woman's face had never looked so
sweet before.

There was $22,000 in the pot. Ralston had
drawn a pair of jacks, making an ace full, and his
face betrayed his luck. Baldwin meditated, hesi-
tated, coughed, and squeezed his cards from time
to time. It was a critical moment. He knew he
had the banker beaten ; the only question was how
to play the cards to produce the most revenue.

It was Ralston's first bet. He thought a mo-
ment and then bet a single chip, which in this case
meant $10. Baldwin immediately bet $30,000.
Ralston eyed him in surprise, and started to raise
the bet as much more, and then something caused
him to pause. He fingered his cards for quite a
while, and then called the bet.

Baldwin displayed his cards and raked in the
pot. As he did so he remarked : ''That was one
of the luckiest draws I ever made, and one of the
poorest plays. If I had raised you about a thou-
sand dollars you w^ould have come back at me with
about thirty thousand, and then I could have given
you a lift that you would have had to call."

''Yes, that is so," responded Ralston, dryly. "I
am very glad you did not think of it."

CHAPTER XIV.

SIX CARDS IN ONE HAND TWO GAMES WHEREIN SIX

CARDS FIGURED WHAT BECAME OF THE

EXTRA ONE.

It is interesting to note the various ways in
which players pick up the cards that are dealt
them. One man will take them up one by one as
they come, another will take them by twos or
threes, and another will not take up the cards until
all have been dealt. Then he will make a "book"
out of the five cards, and squeeze the corners down
apart carefully, evidently enjoying the prospect as
it unfolds. To a man who is set in his ways in this
respect, it is regarded as rank bad luck to depart
from it. There is, however, a reason why the cards
should be picked up in a certain way, and the pref-
erable way is one by one. The reason is that it
avoids the possibility of receiving too few or too
many cards in a deal and of being ruled out on
that account. One of the most painful incidents
of the game is to get started in the betting and then
discover that you have six cards. Before the draw
it might be possible to get rid of the extra card,
but after the draw it is only possible to lay down
like a little man.

A Chicago drummer tells an interesting tale of

204

SIX CARDS IN ONE HAND. 205

how six cards nearly brought him to grief, and it
may serve as a moral warning to careless players.

"1 was doing Wisconsin and Alichigan for a
hardware firm, and having a little fun on the way.
By that I mean that I managed to put m a night
here and there at the great American game. After
a man has been on the road two or three years, cov~
ering the same territory, if he is any sort of a
congenial fellow, he is bound to make the acquain-
tance of a half dozen good chaps in every town of
importance, and they will make it pleasant for him
on the occasions when he has to take the train at
somewhere between one and three a. m. and it
doesn't pay to go to bed.

*'0n one of these occasions I was in the upper
peninsula. I had done the town, whose name T
won't mention, because I don't want to cause any
hard feelings, and I found myself with three hours
on my hands, that there was no use wasting in
sleep.

'The night clerk, who had to stay up anyway,
was one of the party, and early in the evening he
agreed to round up three other young sports with
whom I had several tilts on previous trips, but as
luck would have it, there was a sleighing party
on the boards, and the young bloods were booked
for an outing with three of the prettiest girls in
town, and I couldn't blame them when they sent
word that they'd .see me blowed first. Of course

2o6 JACK POTS.

it wasn't any killing matter but I showed my dis-
appointnfent, so the clerk suggested that he sound
some of the transients, and thus make up a party.

"I assented, and along about ten o'clock the
clerk and I were sitting down in a small room off
the office in company with Mr. Close of Saginaw
and Mr. Wilson of Duluth. These two gentlemen
were probably traveling in Michigan in midwinter
for their health — at least I never heard what was
their business, and the clerk was no wiser — and
were willing to devote a few hours to shuffling the
papers, although they had to confess that it had
been so long since they touched a card, that really,
etc.

'T had heard that kind of talk before, and it al-
ways gave me a pain. It either means that the
man is a fellow who doesn't know the first thing
about poker, or else he is a clumsy sharper trying
to throw one off his guard. Mr. Wilson and Mr.
Close looked like a couple of tough lumbermen,
just come into a fortune, coarse in appearance and
speech, and I took an instinctive dislike to both.
But I was in for it, and I couldn't very well de-
cline to play with them after in a measure inviting
them to meet me, so I drew up my chair with a
cordial air, and we fell to.

"The clerk was a slow and careful player, who
did not bluff, or get excited, or do anything but
chip along until he got threes or better, and then

SIX CARDS IN ONE HAND. 207

play himself even for what he had anted away. He
never got any particular fun out of the game, and,
in fact, he never played except to make up the
game as on occasions like the one I am describing.
Wilson and Close, I soon found, played a very stiff
game, with plenty of bluffing, and yet changed
their style so often that I soon realized that I was
up against som.ething more than ordinary.

*'I wasn't kicking against their skill, because I've
conceit enough to think that I can hold my own in
fast company, and I had just about began to admit
to myself that I was having a pleasant time when it
dawned upon me that these two men were sharpers,
and would fleece me if they could. I don't know
what opened my eyes, but it came on me like a
flash. They were not experts by any means, I
made up my mind, but they would bear close
watching.

''And watch them I did, and without much at-
tempt at concealment, so that I felt certain that
they could not ring in a cold deck on me, or
slip a card. But you know it is a big strain to
keep up that sort of thing for hours, and I was
mighty glad to think that I didn't have to make a
whole night of it.

''Well, the game went on without the sharpers
getting in any of their fine work so far as I could
see, until it came half past twelve, and then I
suddenly announced that I could play only one

2o8 JACK POTS.

more round, as I had to take the 1 105 a. m. I
saw them exchange a quick glance, and I won-
dered what they would try on. As it happened
they caught me on a trick that was brand new to
me.

"It was Wilson's deal, and I got two kings. The
cards may have been stacked, but the deal looked
fair enough. The clerk threw up his hand accord-
ing to his usual custom, and Close stayed and
raised before the draw. Wilson came back at him,
and as I was between them the}' led me a dance
for a few minutes. Then I was allowed to draw
cards, and I asked for three.

'T watched Wilson closely, and felt certain that
he took the cards off the top of the pack. He
took them off in a bunch, and I received them
in the same way, and placed them at the back of
my two kings. I saw that Close got three and
that Wilson took the same number himself, and
then I waited to see what was going to happen, as
I felt certain that something would happen.

*Tt was my age, and Close had the first say. He
bet ten dollars. Wilson raised him ten. I pinched
down my cards until I saw another king and then
I lifted it twenty. Close promptly raised a hun-
dred dollars, and Wilson laid down, with a poorly
pretended oath of disappointment. It was up to
me, and I knew that the dark secret was about to
be revealed. And so it was!

SIX CARDS IN ONE HAND. 209

"I peeled down my cards still further and dis-
closed to my delighted eyes a fourth king.
Merely to give myself time to think I looked at the
fifth card and saw an ace. That made me as solid
as a rock as we were not playing straight flushes.
I began to wonder why fortune was so kind to
me, when suddenly I made an alarming discovery.
I had another card ! Wilson had given me four
cards instead of three, and the way I took them
I had not noticed the extra card.

''I could have kicked myself for my carelessness,
and I had no doubt it was premeditated on Wil-
son's part. I hadn't more than thirty-five dollars
in the pot, and I might have thrown up my cards,
but it riled me to think that I had watched these
fellows so successfully so long, and then to let
them get away with me.

"It didn't take more than five seconds to think
all that and then I came to a sudden resolution.
I would meet trickery with trickery. I fingered
my cards until I got the ace between my thumb
and finger, and then while asking "How much?"
I dropped the ace on my knee. Then I saw Close's
raise and tilted it ten more. He promptly came
back with another hundred.

"Then I began to feel sorry for myself. The
ace laid on my knee in plain sight, and how to
ret rid of it I couldn't imasfine. The men knew
I had a sixth card, and would be sure to look for

2IO JACK POTS.

it when it was missed. And here I was a hundred
dollars deeper in the hole. And time was flying.

''It was a cold night, but it was warm enough in
the room, because it was heated by a large box
stove that burned wood, and the room was small.
A few moments before the clerk had opened the
stove door to reduce the heat somew^hat, and I
was so close to it that my foot almost touched it.
I looked down again and saw that the ace had
slipped down my leg and was resting on the tip
of my boot.

"I never was a sleight of hand performer, but I
did a very neat trick just then. Without turning
my head, although I could see the card out of
the corner of my eye, I tossed that card directly
in the fire box, and then, without a tremor, I
looked Close in the eye, and said :

" Tve got you beat bad, but I have to catch a
train as I told you, and besides this is only a
friendly game, and I don't want to leave any hard
feelings behind. So I'll just call that bet. What
have you got?'

" Three tens and a pair of eights,' he replied,
as he laid his hand face upward on the table.

" 'Four kings,' I said, briefly, and I exposed my
cards.

"As I expected Close was on his feet in an in-
stant, with Wilson by his side. I pretended to not
:ee their excitement, and began to rake in the

SIX CARDS IN ONE HAND.

21 I

winnings. Fortunately I had the clerk on my side,
and he was a big husky fellow, equal to three ordi-
nary men.

'' 'I think,' said Close, 'that you have a foul
hand.' He turned over the cards, and, of course,
found only five. It was amusing to see the look he
turned on his partner, and the embarrassment of
that worthy.

'Then Close walked around to my side of the

table and looked on

the floor. Of course

no card was visible,

because the ashes of
the ace were

smouldering in

the stove. He

gave another

withering look

at Wilson, but

what could Wilson do? He

couldn't say that he had given

me six cards, for that would

reveal his perfidy. And there

was the clerk, who wouldn't stand in for any foul

play.

"I tell you I enjoyed the situation to the utmost.

The two men walked around and muttered and

growled, while I tucked away the good money,

and the clerk cashed my chips, and then I turned

I pretended not to see the

excitement and began to

rake in the winnings.

2 12 JACK POTb.

to go. But I could not refrain from a parting
shot.

" 'Dorsey,' I said to the clerk, 'you should al-
ways see that the cards you furnish are straight.
I have noticed several times to-night that the cards
stuck together, and I was afraid that I might get
too many cards in the draw\ You ought to see
to that.'

*'Then I passed out to catch my train, several
hundred dollars richer, and with the calm con-
sciousness of a duty well performed. When I got
back to that town on my next trip, the clerk told
me that the two men had a monkey and a parrot
time over the afTair, each accusing the other of be-
traying him. The clerk, who had not the least
idea what it was all about, listened in amazement,
and of course could not give them any satisfaction.
But when I told him what had really happened he
expressed keen regret that he had not known it in
time to help them out of the hotel on the toe of
his boot."

Another story about six cards dates back to the
early and halcyon days of Colorado, Nevada and
California, when everybody w^as either prospecting
for gold or speculating in real estate. Money was
very plentiful, and much of it was spent with an
abandon that would have done credit to the Count
of Monte Cristo. Pretty nearly everyone gam-
bled more or less and poker was the favorite game

SIX CARDS IN ONE HAND. 213

from Ah Sin up to the bonanza kings. One of the
best business blocks in Denver is or was owned
by a man who laid the foundation of a big fortune
with money won at cards, and many of the high
rollers who have taken a hand in the games where
he held cards have quit sadder but wiser by reason
of their experience.

Even when Denver was but a small place it was
the rendezvous for many skilled players. There
was a banker living in Denver at that time, of the
name of Cook, who had an abundance of cash, and
who was a famous poker player.

He was also a rare good fellow, noted -for his
liberality. Jerome B. Chafifee, at one time United
States Senator from Colorado, with two or three
others who used to play with Cook a great, deal,
one night concocted a little scheme by which they
figured they could have a great deal of fun at
Cook's expense, and at the same time get a cham-
pagne supper out of him.

So ChafTee and his companions, who had plenty
of money, and who had been caught in a good
many jack pots that Cook had opened — and won —
arranged among themselves that the very next
time they played with Cook they would show him
a trick he would not forget in a hurry. The scheme
was to open a pot and if Cook stayed to deal him
enough cards to make six in all and if he stayed
on a pair he was to get four aces. Then, when

214 JACK POTS.

the pot had reached a goodly size, to call him,
make him show his six cards, have the laugh at his
expense, and after giving him back his share of
the money in the pot, make him set up the cham-
pagne. It generally made Cook very mad to lose
a pot of any considerable size, and they knew that
if they made this pot a very large one his wrath
would be very amusing to witness.

The day at last arrived, when they were all to-
gether in Cook's office, and Chaffee suggested a
game of poker to while away the afternoon, which
w^as a stormy one. Cook assented, little dreaming
of the good time which was to be had at his e5c-
pense.

The cards were dealt and the game went on for
nearly an hour. before the trap was sprung. Chaf-
fee opened a jack pot on three kings. Cook stayed
on a pair of jacks and called for three cards. He
got four aces. It dawned upon him that some-
thing was up, but he did not quite grasp the situ-
ation, and w^hen he did he was in pretty deep.

Chaffee had drawn two cards, and he bet the
limit. Cook raised him. The others stayed for
three or four rounds just to swell the pot, and then
Cook and Chaffee had it back and forth. The bet-
ting continued until there was an even ten thou-
sand dollars in the pot, when Chaffee called Cook
and made him show down his cards.

Cook threw four aces and a jack on the table and

SIX CARDS IN ONE HAND. 215

Started to rake in the pot. The man who had
dealt objected, stating that he saw Cook with six
cards in his hand. The others added that they also
saw Cook with six cards.

"Prove it, then," cried Cook. 'T did not deal ;
you dealt, and if you gave me six cards, where are
they?"

Chaffee and his companions at once inaugurated
the most rigid search for the missing jack. They
looked under tables, in drawers — everywhere a
card could possibly get. They made Cook dis-
robe which he did without objection, and subjected
• him to the most careful examination, but the card
could not be found.

This was a stunner. Cook had not moved dur-
ing the game, and they were sure of the six cards,
but where was the other jack? At all events it
was not to be found, and Cook asserted he had
but five cards, and expressed the greatest in-
dignation at their doubts. He also held on to the
money like grim death.

To say the w^ould-be jokers were crestfallen
would be putting it mildly. It was not so funny
as they had figured out in advance, and for a week
they vented their feelings by alternately laughing
and swearing at the way Cook had turned the
tables on them. To add to the aggravation, every
time Cook met them he put on an injured air, as
if he could hardly bring himself to forgive them
for suspecting him of anything wrong.

2i6 JACK POTS.

Cook, as he used to relate afterward with great
glee, got the six cards all right, but under cover
of taking a chew of fine cut tobacco, of which he
was very fond, got the extra jack in his mouth,
chewed it to a pulp and swallowed it, tobacco and
all. He said he guessed he could risk swallowing
a chew of tobacco and a little pasteboard for ten
thousand dollars, even if it did make him a little
sick. At any rate, he thought the other fellows
were a great deal sicker than he was.

CHAPTER XV.

POKER IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE BIG BETTING ON

SMALL HANDS HOW THREE KLONDIKERS

PLAYED CARDS.

There are plenty "of stories about the man who
held four kings and the man who came back at
him with four aces, and kings and aces are the
leading features of the poker-story teller's reper-
toire. It seems to be assumed that the average
player will not bet his hand unless he has at least
a full house. This w^ill make an old poker player
laugh. He knows that the toughest struggles are
frequently over hands that do not arrive at the
dignity of threes. It happens very often that an
entire evening will pass without the appearance
of fours, and if players waited for these big hands
before they bet, the game would be a pretty dull
affair. The fact is that there seems to be spells
when the cards run high for a night, and then tht
next night they run low, but the playing runs
about the same, because when the players find that
small hands are winning pots they begin to bluff on
pairs or nothing at all.

A Colorado expert sizes up the situation w-hen
he says that there is more genuine deviltry in two
pairs than in aces out of two packs. And there

217

2i8 JACK 10'! S.

has been a mighty lot of poker playing in Colo-
rado, and some good poker hands, but very few
of the phenomenal sort have gone on record,
whereas two pair or less have created consterna-
tion at times.

Poker is, and always has been exceedingly pop-
ular in the Centennial State. Perhaps faro is a lit-
tle ahead, because miners are always dead set on
faro, as it gives them such quick action, but then
you can't play faro without a layout and consid-
erable flummery, whereas you can play poker any-
where at anv time.

The amount of stakes has cut a greater figure in
poker games in Colorado than the hands held, and
there are instances to prove this, ranging all the
way from the man who bet his sleeve buttons to
the magnate who put up his mine.

On the southwest corner of Blake and Sixteenth
Street, in Denver, some years ago there stood —
and may stand now — a two-story brick business
block, bearing some evidence of the flight .of time,
yet still sound and solid, and capable of use for
years. In 1870 part of the ground floor of this
building was used by the First National Bank, and
another part by Wolfe Londoner as a grocery
store. Overhead were offices, and in one of these
offices there occurred one evening in April a re-
markable poker game.

The owner of the building sat in this game, and

POKER IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE. 219

Opposite him was a then prominent Denver man.
Both were prominent in fact since the owner held
a high executive office in the Territory at that time.
There were five in the game originally, but some-
how they dwindled down to two. At 1 1 130 at
night a large amount of money had changed hands,
and things were going bad for the owner of the
building. There was no limit, and his opponent
had been putting the gafY to him in lively fashion.

Already there were four bank checks up, but the
owner of the block would not be downed by hard
luck, and felt confident that fortune would come
his way.

He wanted to know if his building wasn't worth
$50,000 and was informed that it was. There-
upon he mnde a written agreement to sign it over,
and the game went on. Within two hours he lost
the block, and he transferred it the next day. It
is said that the only recovery he made from the
person who won it was at another sitting a week
later, when he came out $25,000 ahead. None of
the hands held in this memorable game are on rec-
ord now, but it is known that not one was re-
markable.

This game is paralleled by one that comes from
Leadville and credited with having been played
there in the winter of 1882. The set-to took place
in the Clarendon Hotel, and was participated in by
two gentlemen who are still residents of Colorado,

220 JACK POTS.

and are both wealthy. At that time they had not
much money but they had large prospects, and
among other things there 'was a mine in whicli
each had an equal share. The money w^as not
much, at least not much in comparison with what
they afterward possessed, but it w^as enough to
make the game exciting.

And it was exciting. Hands run low, but they
banged away at each other in lively fashion, and
neither one got a pot without playing for it. Fin-
ally each got a hand that they evidently proposed
to stay with. Everything went up — chips, cash,
two gold watches, and, of course, bank checks, and
it was only a question of time when they would get
to the mine. Finally there came a pause.

"Have you got anything else, Charley?"

"How much is the mine worth?"

"I value my interest at $10,000, and I suppose
yours is the same."

"Very w^ell," was the grim reply. "I raise you
that."

So the other interest went into the pot and there
was a show down. Charley's winning hand was
three deuces, a four and a five. His opponent held
a pair of aces and a pair of kings and a three. Cer-
tainly neither of these hands could be considered
sensational, but they were considered good enough
to stake a mine on. This mine, by the way, is now
producing ore valued at about as much per month

POKER IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE. 221

as the entire property was worth at the time of the
poker game.

In a game played in Denver one July day
in 1884, there were four diamond rings, two
watches, two
pairs of costly
sleeve buttons,
a number of
scarf pins and
$5,000 in
money staked
on one pot. In
this game sat
an ex-Governor, a
well known smelter
man, a California
miner and an East-
ern Congressman.

It was an old time miners' game.

The man from the East scooped in the pot on a
small straight.

Six thousand dollars in nuggets was w^on by a
lucky poker player in Denver in 1871. The nug-
gets came from Clear Creek, and were brought to
Denver for the purpose of being placed in bank,
and they got there but not in the way intended.
It was an old time miners' game, with all sorts of
blufifing, and it lasted all night. The end of it
was that the man with the nuggets got three tens,
and he thought it was a simply paralyzing hand.

222 . JACK POTS.

and it was pretty good for the way the cards had
been running, but the other fellow held three jacks.

In Santa Fe there is a record of a prominent
business man giving a bill of sale for his stock of
dry goods, groceries, etc., amounting in all to
$80,000. This bill of sale went into a quiet little
game, but it was not lost, for the reason that no
one could show^ anything excelling a king full,
which the merchant rightly considered a good
thing to cling to.

A rather singular game was one played at Den-
ver about five years ago, at the Windsor. There
were five men sitting in the game; a railroad man,
an ex-Mayor, a lawyer and two prominent business
men. There came a deal when all stayed in. One
man drew one card, another two cards, and the
three others three cards each. The man who drew
three cards raised, and was followed up until there
was $18,000 on the table. Then the man who
drew three cards bet $10,000, and all the others
laid down. Then it transpired that he had been
running a beautiful blufT on two pairs, while the
man who had drawn two cards laid down an ace
full, and those who had drawn three each laid down
in turn, four queens, four jacks and four tens. This
story is vouched for by witnesses, but all the same
it is pretty hard to believe. The only supposition
is that the other players were paralyzed at the size
of their hands.

POKER IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE. 223

An amusing instance of Colorado poker playing
is reported as occurring on a stock train coming
from a point in New Mexico to Colorado. A large
shipment of steers was being made to this point
and the owners of the cattle traveled in a caboose.
Now there is only one result of four cattlemen trav-
eling together in a car for any length of time,
and that is a poker game. There is a great deal
of beautiful scenery on the way up from New Mexi-
co, but scenery is cheap and only made for East-
ern tourists to look at, while poker is always in-
teresting.

The game went on very well for a couple of
days. On the third day the conductor going
through the caboose during the afternoon, was laid
out with astonishment at hearing the remark : 'T
raise you five steers." The man who spoke these
w^ords then laid five matches on the board. He
was followed up with more matches, each one rep-
resenting a steer, and thus the game went on.
When the shipment arrived at Denver it was
owned by two instead of four men.

There is a great deal of gambling on the Klon-
dike, but not so heavy playing as there was in the
old California mining camps. The Klondikers
have a tough time of it as a rule, and, with few
exceptions, every man is looking eagerly forward
to the day when he can shake the dust — even if it is
gold dus,t-^of that region from his feet and rejoin

2 24 JACK POTS.

his friends in the haunts of civiUzation. Conse-
quently he hangs on to every ounce that brings
him nearer to the day.

But when the miner makes his pile, and escorts
it safely to the outposts of hotels, theatres and
all that makes life worth living, the temptation is
almost irresistible to have a high old time once
more. The temptation generally takes the form of
cards, and as there must be losers where there are
winners, it is not unusual for a man who has
amassed enough for him to live on the rest of his
days to drop it in Seattle, Portland or San Fran-
cisco, and then start back to the Klondike to make
another pile. Some of the games played by these
returned Argonauts are simply fierce, and make
old timers open their eyes.

In August, 1899, there arrived at Portland three
men from the Klondike — George Mulford, Parker
Hamlin and Henry Smith. They had never met
each other in the gold regions, but made acquaint-
ance on the boat. Each had been very successful,
having about a hundred thousand dollars apiece,
and all the way down they told each other w^hat
they were going to do with their wealth. One
was going into business in Pittsburg, another was «
going to live on his money in Ohio, and the third
had a rosy dream of a fruit ranch in California.
All had been poor men, and they seemed to fully
appreciate the value of their hard earned money.

POKER IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE. 225

When they landed in Portland they went to the
same hotel, and put in three or four days in fitting
out with store clothes, and filling up on square
meals, just to get into the habit of eating again,
as Smith said.

They had resolved to leave on Sunday morning,
and on Saturday night they had a farewell supper.
After the supper they had a smoke, and then Mul-
ford suggested a little game of poker, just for fun.
They had never playe^i cards together, but it soon
developed that all were most stubborn players.

The game began mildly, with a fifty-cent ante
and five dollar limit, and for an hour nobody was
much to the good. As they played they drank,
and perhaps that went to the head ; at any rate, the
limit was raised to a hundred dollars, and they be-
gan to bet recklessly. The excitement started with
Mulford, who held two aces. He bet the limit ;
Smith stayed on two pair; Hamlin raised it the
limit on three fours, and Mulford came back with
another hundred raise. Smith and Hamlin laid
down, and when they saw that Mulford only had a
pair they swore at themselves for being bluffed.

The hands ran very low but the betting ran
higher and higher. The limit was bet about every
deal, and no one could get away with a bluff, be-
cause every time one player made a bet, the other
two would call, even if thev had nothing better
than ace high.

2 26 JACK POTS.

Of course this soon got too tame, and finally the
Hmit was taken off, and then the recklessness of
the play was astonishing. On one hand Hamlin
drew one card to a four flush, and bet five hundred
dollars. Smith had a pair of sevens, and drew
three cards without helping his hand.

"Five hundred dollars?" he said, eyeing Hamlin,
keenly.

"That's what I said."

"I don't believe you made it," returned Smith.
"At any rate, I'll just lift that five hundred for
luck."

"One thousand more," retorted Hamlin.

"Call you."

Hamlin showed down a pair of deuces, with a
laugh.

On the very next hand Mulford stood pat. It
was Hamlin's deal and Smith's age.

"Pat, eh?" said Hamlin. "You haven't got a
thing, and I know it."

"Five hundred says I have," returned Mulford.

"I wish I knew what you were going to do,"
said Hamlin, glancing at Smith.

"Well," said Smith, with a laugh, "in order to
not spoil the fun I'll stay out this hand and let you
two fight it out."

"Then I'll just keep these," said Hamlin. "Five
hundred harder."

Mulford came back at him, and when there was

POKER IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE. 227

ten thousand in the pot, HamHn called. Mulford
had ten high, and Hamlin had queen high.

The betting simmered down for the next three
or four hands and then Mulford started out on an-
other cantico with a pair of kings. This time he
put his foot into it largely, as Hamlin had three
nines and Smith three aces. After contributing six-
teen thousand to the pot, Mulford dropped out,
and after another big bet Hamlin called.

By this time Mulford was out about twenty-five
thousand dollars, and announced his intention of
quitting. He also advised the others to do likewise,
but Hamlin was also out some thousands and he
wanted to get even, and as Smith was ahead he
didn't care how long he played. So Mulford sat
and looked on.

The two men then went at it as if all their prev-
ious playing had been mere practice. Hardly a
hand was played that did not count up to two
thousand dollars, and bets of five thousand w^ere
frequent. Strange to say the cards began to run
higher than they had all evening, and that had a
tendency to add to their excitement. Hamlin fin-
ally evened up his losses, and Smith then suggested
that they call it off, but he wouldn't listen.

About I a. m. Hamlin was ten thousand dollars
ahead, and then his luck took another turn and he
lost rapidly. This had a tendency to rattle him
and eventually proved his undoing. There came

228

JACK POTS.

a hand when he dealt Smith two queens and him-
self two fives. Each took three cards; Smith
caught a pair of tens, and Hamlin the other five.

Smith bet a thousand, Hamlin raised it five thou-
sand; Smith raised a like amount, Hamlin lifted it
ten, and Smith again hoisted it ten.

For the first time during the game, Hamlin
began to get nervous. He had been blufiing on

pairs, and calling
thousands on a
high card, and
now he had
threes, but the
more he looked
at them the
smaller they
seemed. He was
again out more
than ten thou-
sand and he had
lost the last five
or six bets. The
poker player
who goes into
any such line of
reflection might
as well quit playing, and Hamlin realized that, but
he did not like to weaken.

So he did a very foolish thing. Next to calling

^^^^^^

Smith gave a whoop of joy and threw his
hand on the table.

POKER IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE. 229

his best play was to raise it to the skies, but he
raised it five hundred dollars. Smith felt certain he
had him, and he bet thirty thousand dollars flat.

Hamlin looked at his cards and then at the man
opposite him, who seemed very serious. He fin-
gered his cards for fully a minute, and then said,
hoarsely, ''Damn it, Hank, you've either got four
small ones or three big ones, and I'll pass."

Smith gave a whoop of joy and threw his hand
on the table.

"Don't look at them," said Mulford, warningly.
"It may make you feel worse."

But Hamlin insisted and when he turned up the
cards he swore like a Klondiker for a minute, and
then he laughed.

"Well, I've got enough to live on yet," he said,
cheerfully. ''I never weakened until I happened to
think that if I kept on losing I would have to go
back to that God forsaken country and dig up an-
other fortune."

CHAPTER XVI.

CHILDREN AND POKER TOO MUCH FRANKNESS DADDY

AND DINAH — HOW THE TOM FOOL HAD
THEM " ALL ALIKE."

They say that children and fools speak the truth,
a most desirable trait indeed, but not of much use
in a game of poker. For that reason it is just as
well that both children and fools should be kept
out when the festive game is in progress. The
pure innocence of prattling babes is a sweet thing
to the father and man w^hose days are spoiled with
the sordid contact of commerce and the wiles of
the world. Yet that purity of mind sometimes as-
sumes such poignancy of penetration as to startle
the fond father.

Such was the case of a bright four year old
daughter of a Philadelphia gentleman, who when
he is at home luxuriates on West Walnut Street,
and spends his summers at Atlantic City. Owing
perhaps to the exhilarating influence of the sea air,
he always indulges in more or less poker playing
during these months, and it is a matter of some
envious notice among his friends that he almost
invariably is a winner. In fact, the gentleman is
just about good enough to make a living at the

230

CHILDREN AND POKER. 23^

noble game if his inclinations had drifted that way.

But there are occasions when fate gets a double
nelson on him and he goes to grass. On the oc-
casion in question this gentleman met three of his
old college chums, and after indulging in personal
reminiscences until the subject grew tiresome, one
of the party suggested poker.

The game went on swimmingly for some time,
and our friend w^as winning with his accustomed
frequency. Then there came a jack pot, into which
he plunged with great enthusiasm. At this stage
his young and charming daughter climbed upon
his knee, and was received with a fond embrace.
Two of the players had dropped out and the third
was wavering.

"Ten more," said the Philadelphia man, with a
cheerful air of confidence.

The other man took a look at his two pair. They
were as big as ever, but their importance seemed
to be dwindling. He had them before the draw
and hadn't helped them; his opponent had drawn
three cards, and he was so infernally lucky

Just at this point the angel child spoke up and
said:

''Oh, papa, you have two mammas and one papa,
and two cards with spots"

''Raise you ten," said the man with tw^o pair.

The child must have been astonished at the ve-
locity with w'hich she was hoisted off of papa's

232

JACK POTS.

knee, and the sternness of the voice that ordered
her to ''go to your mamma."

She went, and her papa did not call that raise;
in fact, he was so unnerved that he was a heavy
loser before the game ended. And the other
players were cruel enough to give him the laugh.

Perhaps it
was a cousin to
this young
lady — a youth
of tender years,
known as Au-
g u s t u s, who
lived in New
York. He also
had arrived at
the interesting age of four,
and during that brief period
had developed so many
talents that it is a wonder
wings did not sprout
from his shoulders. As it
was his fame was blaz-
oned even unto the dis-
tant family circle represented by the fourth assist-
ant deputy cousins. Yet there came a time when
the cherub fell from his high estate.

One Sunday the uncle of Augustus came to town
to visit the father of Augustus. He had heard of

"Oh, papa, you have two mammas

and one papa, and two cards

with spots."

CHILDREN AND POKER. 233

the heir apparent's mental luminosity and ren-
dered appropriate homage to him, much to the
delight of his progenitors. The lady, who had not
hitherto had more than a writing acquaintance with
Uncle George, expressed a high opinion of his
intelligence.

When Sunday evening arrived the mistress of
the house, who is a strict church member and a
fanatic on the point of Sabbath observance, pre-
pared to sally forth to evening service, but, strange
to relate, her husband and brother-in-law suddenly
succumbed to violent headaches.

Menthol and other remedies were freely but
vainly used, and finally Augustus' mamma had to
depart by herself. She left her husband in the
library inhaling spirits of hartshorn and reading
Fox's ''Book of Martyrs" ; while her brother-in-law
sat in his own room with a towel tied around his
fevered brow and an expression of intense sufYering
on his face. But when the door slammed the two
men vanished into the library and locked the door.
Augustus, alone and forgotten, roamed the halls.

At breakfast on Monday morning Augustus was
more than usually scintillant and was given all sorts
of opportunities to display his brightness.

"Now, Gussie," said his mamma, playfully, "tell
me what papa and Uncle George did last night."

Papa and Uncle George exchanged looks, but
felt reasonably safe.

934 JACK POTS.

"They wented into the library," chirped the
prodigy, "and they flirted."

"What !" exclaimed the questioning one, while
the two gentlemen felt the shadow of impending
disaster.

"Es they did," continued the charming Augus-
tus. "I heard 'em frew the door. Papa kept say-
ing 'You're shy,' and Uncle George would say,
'No, I ain't shy.' And there was something as
sounded like this" — he rattled his ivory napkin
holder on the plate — "and once papa said, 'I'm
Pat,' Papa's name ain't Pat; is it mamma?"

It was Dennis for some time afterward, and it is
feared that papa will never think so much of his
little Augustus again.

Black or white it is all the same with children.
This little anecdote from Dixie will illustrate the
similarity.

Old Daddy November always took pride in sa)^-
ing: "I bawn een Chalston befo' de wah, en I
been lib yah eber sense. I lib clus to de battry
whay Mohlan wof stan; a berr nice place fur hit,
sho nufif, speshially een in de summer, kos een in
de night, wen yo wuk done, you kin go sot on de
battry en git nice, cool breeze."

On a very hot night in August the old man occu-
pied his favorite seat, and thus discoursed with his
friend Primus Green.

"Primus, is I ebber tole you 'bout de narrer'
'scape I mek on lass Fote ob July?"

CHILDREN AND POKER. 235

"No," said Primus, ''you ain't been tole me niu-
tin' 'bout 'em. What kine er narrer scape you
mek?"

Daddy November held his hat between Fort
Sumter and himself, struck a match, held the match
behind his hat until he had lighted his pipe, and
then he put the pipe in his mouth and his hat on
his head. Then he said:

''Et bin befo Sambo Robinson bin dig rock een
de fosfite mine on de Ten Mile Hill, en he bin wuk
on truck farm, between de fawk of de road and de
Fo' Mile House. On de Fote ob July Sambo had
a kyard pahty wot consists ob fo' niggahs — ole
Sambo hisself, en his friend Gawge Washinton,
en mc and Hendry Drane, wot sell chicken.

"We play monstous big game. You kin bet iibe
cent ebery time. Well, Drane dole de kyards, en
Sambo gone bline. I git two king, en ob cose I
cum een. Washinton seen de bline too, en Drane
kum een. Sambo mek de bline good en tek tree
kyard. I tek tree, Washinton tek one en Drane
tek tree.

"Wen I pick up my han' I mos turn pale. I
ketch wun mo king en two jack. Sambo he lay
low. bekase he em bline. I bet fibe cent, en Wash-
inton he lifif me fibe mo. Drane trow away he han'
an cuss. Ole Sambo smole a smile en seen my
fibe cent en Washinton fibe cent en liff em anudder
fibe. I try ter look es if I gwine ter bluff, en I hab

236 JACK POTS.

my hail on de chip fur to rise em agen wen some-
tin happen wot nobody ain't count on.

"Sambo got one pooty httle granchile name
Dinah. De chile ain't but six year ole but she
know all de kyards. Dinah sot behin Sambo en
look on de kyard en jiss wen I gone liff Sambo
some mo, de little gal sing out, 'Oh, how funny!
Granpa got all de queens!'

*'Ob course dat mek excitement. I trow away
my full house, Washinton fling fibe spade on de
table; Drane he lafT — he cum in on two sebens,
en Sambo, who hab de queens sho enough, say
dam, en tun roun en slap de chile en tek her in de
nex room en put her to bed. Den wen soun kum
frum de room like spank, en Dinah holler, I sorry
fur dat chile, kase her talk seen sabe me at least
sebenty fibe cent. I mek narrer scape."

"En what Washinton say?" inquired Primus.

"Gawge Washinton say," replied Daddy No-
vember, "dat Sambo ain't no right fur to spank dat
chile, kaws she been tole de troof."

Three children are at least equal to one fool,
and this is the story of how a fool got away with
a wise man.

In the year 1880 there came to western Missouri
from Vermont a family named Hecker, consisting
of a man and wife and six children. What tempted
a Yankee to come to Missouri, and that section in
particular, no one knew except Hecker and he

CHILDREN AND POKER. 237

never told. He first started in the grocery busi-
ness, but soon found that he could not compete
with the shopkeepers to the manner born, and
within a year he failed and then took up farming.

He was not much more successful as a farmer
than a shopkeeper, but he made a living, and that
seemed to satisfy him. In fact he lost all the traits
of his Yankee nature, and just shuffled along
through life like his neighbors. In 1888 he died,
leaving his wife and children to make a still poorer
living out of the rocky farm.

The eldest of his children was a boy of twenty,
then came four girls, and then a boy, named Zenas,
aged fifteen, who was a mere simpleton. It was
said that he was bright enough up to the age of
six, and then something grew on his brain — that
was the way his mother explained his affliction. He
was both harmless and goodnatured, and the child-
ren very fond of him, because although a big fellow
he played with them like one of themselves. In
fact, the poor fellow was a general favorite in the
town where he strayed occasionally.

In 1891 there came a change in the fortunes of
the Hecker family. Some enterprising fellow dis-
covered zinc and lead on the farm, and w^as honest
enough to offer the widow a generous per centage
on the output. The mine turned out to be won-
derfully prolific and the result was an income to
the Heckers that practically made them wealthy.

238 JACK POTS.

Fortunately, Henry, the eldest son, had a wise
head, and he kept the family pride from swelling
too much.

They moved into town where they occupied a
comfortable house, the girls were sent to school,
and Henry acted as his mother's representative at
the mines. Zenas, of course, remained at home,
and wore good clothes and also had more money
than was good for him. He did not have a per-
fect idea of the value of money, but he knew
enough to keep count, and make small purchases.
His mother — like a mother — thought more of Ze-
nas than all the rest of her children, and tried to
persuade herself that he was recovering his senses,
and that was one reason why she kept him supplied
with plenty of pocket money. It was also suspect-
ed that Zenas knew other routes to his mother's
pocket book since he occasionally flourished rather
large bills.

On one occasion when he was known to have at
least a hundred dollars with him he came into the
leading hotel of the town and was spotted for game
by a couple of the hangers-on. They were not ex-
actly professional gamblers, although hindered
more by lack of skill than scruple, but they had
enough experience to be dangerous opponents for
any ordinary country player let alone a simpleton.

The landlord's son, a boy of twenty, got Zenas
into a side room and proposed a game of poker.

CHILDREN AND POKER

239

Zenas knew how to play casino and seven-up in a
kind of way, so that he could tell the cards, but he
did not know how to play poker. The landlord's
son undertook to teach him the value of the hands,
and after a little while Zenas announced that he was
ready to play. Just at this time a couple of
strangers happened into the room accidently, to
the chagrin of the three young scoundrels who
were about to fleece the unfortunate.

They were guests of the house only arrived that
day and did
not know Ze-
n a s , but
noticing his
open mouth
and gawky
manner, stay-
ed to see the
fun. When the
game com-
menced, how-
ever, and they
saw that Ze-
nas was really
a simpleton,
they e X-
changed glances, and one of them said: 'Til just
stand behind your chair, my boy, and give you a
few pointers."

'I'll just stand behind your chair, my boy, and g'wa
you a few pointers."

240 JACK POTS

"That ain't fair," growled the landlord's son.

''Maybe not," replied the stranger, ' but we
don't want the unfairness to be all on one side."

''Oh, let him do it," spoke up one of the other
fellows. "This is only to teach him the game, any-
how."

There was no further remark, and the game be-
gan. It was ten cent ante, and Zenas came in on
every hand. The man behind him made no objec-
tion to that, but he showed him how^ to draw to his
hand, and also advised him when to call. To the
surprise of the three young men, Zenas proved to
be an extremely apt pupil, so much so that the man
behind his chair began to think that his sympathy
had perhaps been wasted, and that Zenas was not
the fool he looked, so he relaxed his vigilance,
and with his friend took a chair at a little distance
and contented himself with an occasional word of
advice.

The three amateur sharpers now felt more con-
fident, and gradually began to absorb some of the
fool's money.

On one of the hands, when there was about ten
dollars up, Zenas turned to his adviser, and said :

"When they're all alike, mister, does that count?

The man nodded his head, and Zenas pushed in
ten dollars. The others glanced at each other and
there was a general throwing up of cards. Zenas
raked in the pot, and as he laid down his hand, the

CHILDREN AND POKER. 241

landlord's son turned over the cards and disclosed
three hearts and two diamonds.

''All red cards," said Zenas, with a grin.

The two on-lookers burst in a roar of laughter,
while the others looked sheepish.

Zenas lost the next three pots, and the fourth he
won on three kings. Then came a dozen pots in
succession, which he lost, but all for small sums.

Then there came a deal w^hen it was raised two
or three times before the draw. This was a new-
feature to Zenas, and he had to have it explained
to him at great length, and then it was evident
that he did not like it. But he drew cards in a
sulky w^ay, and to the delight of his opponents he
took four. The man behind him tried to check
him, as he saw that he was discarding a pair of
tens, but it was too late.

''He knows his business, mister," said the land-
lord's son, with a coarse laugh. "Board's the
play."

"Yes, I know it is," said the man, "but I want
to tell you right here, that this is the last hand you
are going to play."

"Is that so?" asked one of the other players, with
a sneer.

"Yes, it is so."

"Well, then, don't you interfere with this last
hand," was the sharp response.

"All right," said the man, quietly.

242 JACK POTS.

The landlord's son drew two cards, the others
three cards each. One of the fellows held two pair,
the other did not help his pair of queens, and the
landlord's son made a full house — three tens and a
pair of eights.

It was his first say, and he started it at a dol-
lar. The man with a pair dropped out, the other
fellow raised five dollars. Now it was up to Zenas.
He looked at his cards in a vague way, and then
shoved in a bundle without counting it. The land-
lord's son counted it and found twenty-two dol-
lars.

'That makes sixteen dollars raise," he said.

*'Ya-as, that's right," drawled Zenas. ''Only I
wanter know"

"No, you can't ask any advice," cried the land-
lord's son, sharply, "That's the agreement." Then
he added, hastily, 'T raise you ten dollars."

"But I wanter know," drawled Zenas.

"Shut up, I tell you!"

But Zenas wasn't to be silenced. Holding his
cards all hunched up, he wriggled around on his
chair, and seemed on the point of bursting into
tears. And then he broke out in spite of the agree-
ment.

"Say, mister, I've got four cards all alike,
and"

"Say!" The landlord's son was on his feet,
blazing with wrath, but the stranger held up his
hand soothingly.

CHILDREN AND POKER. 243

'*A bargain's a bargain," he said, laughingly.
'*My friend, you'll have to go it alone this time."

Zenas looked at his new friend and then at his
companion, but their faces were blank. Then he
fingered his cards for a minute, and then he went
down into his trouser's pocket and brought up a
bundle of bills. He took away a dollar bill from
the roll, and dropped the rest on the table.

"Fve only got that much," he stammered.

The landlord's son pounced on it.

'There's forty-two dollars here," he said, trying
to speak carelessly. ''Do you want to raise thirty-
two dollars?"

'T suppose so," was the hesitating reply.

''Cut it down half," suggested one of the men
locking on.

"No, I won't," said the landlord's son, doggedly.
"It's his money, and we'd give him ours if he
won it."

He had to rake up every cent he had, and bor-
row ten dollars from his friends to call the bet. As
he did so the men who had been looking on,
stepped up behind Zenas.

He did not understand at first that he had been
called, and it was with some difiiculty that he was
persuaded to deposit his cards on the table. Then
he slowly disclosed four kings!

There was a chorus of oaths and howls of rage
from the amateur sharpers, and there is no doubt

244 JACK POTS.

that they would have taken the pot by force if it
had not been for the presence of the strangers.

''Good boy!" shouted one of them. 'Tour of a
kind, sure enough ! Well, it takes a fool to speak
the truth."

And the town fool walked away with the^ money,
and, as the strangers took care to tell the story, the
sharpers never got it back.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE POLICE AND THE GAMBLERS A DOWN EAST SELEC 1 -

MAN A BUNKO GAME AT LOS ANGELES STORY

OF THE SHORT-CARD MAN.

The police are always at war with the gam-
blers— quite properly — but they are not always suc-
cessful in keeping them within bounds. It is nec-
essary to get unde-
niable evidence, and
that is not readily
obtainable, so the
guardians of the
morals as well as
the peace of the
community must
get it themselves.
This is not so easy
as it might appear.
There are two
methods — strategy
and force. In Cin-
cinnati not long
ago there came
vigorous com-
plaints of a poker
game that was anything but on the square, so it
was determined to raid the house. As usual the

The officers walk^ into the various traps
set for them.

245

246 JACK POTS.

managers of the place received a tip and prepared
to give the poHce a hot reception. They fihed the
rear yard and halhvay with boxes, beer kegs and
other stuff. Barbed wires were strung so that
officers scahng the fence would become entangled
in them, and the cellar way was partially filled with
sticks of timber and the door left open.

The officers came as expected and walked into
the various traps set for them. They were shame-
fully cut and torn by the wires and bruised by falls
over obstructions in the yard. Every uniform was
ruined. When the police were in the midst of their
struggles the gamblers who had been watching,
gave them the laugh and fled. One veteran sport
who was with the party didn't laugh.

*'John," he said to the head man, ''this isn't so
sharp a trick as you think. The police are only do-
ing their duty and you have no right to person-
ally injure them. They will remember it against
you, and if you undertake to open up another
game in this town they will never give you a mo-
ment's peace."

The boss laughed again, but he realized to his
sorrow that the old sport knew more than he did
about poker and police. He opened up three
times in succession and every time he was pulled
before he had a chance to make a winning.

The other way is to resort to strategy, and the
process is always about the same. Detective Bern-

THE POLICE AND THE GAMBLERS. 247

Stein is informed that a crooked game is in prog-
ress at such a number on Clark Street. The place
is called the Kalamazoo Club. It is understood
that the club is open only to members, but Bern-
stein is not only permitted but invited to visit the
place.

He goes to the house and tells the custodian
that he has an appointment to meet Harry Brown
there. The name was a creation of his mind, but
he is promptly invited to go up stairs and wait for
his friend. When he reached the third floor he
saw a complete poker layout — table, cards, chips
and players. There was a vacant chair at the table,
and he was asked to take a hand in a fifty cent
limit game. He declined and said that he must
see Brown. After watching for a time, he con-
cluded to leave, but promised to return.

The next night he came back, and he was as-
sured that he had missed a good thing by not
remaining the previous night. Then he took a
hand, and purchased three stacks of chips for five
dollars. At first he won a considerable amount,
and then the luck wxnt the other way, and his win-
nings dwindled down. A jack pot was opened by
the detective with three queens. The others
stayed. Cards were drawn the detective taking
two, while the others stood pat. On the first raise
Bernstein prudently threw up his hand.

Two or three more hands were played and then

-•48 JACK POTS.

he got a king full. He thought that was pretty
good, and decided to win or lose on it. He went
broke, because one of the other players had four
tens. This satisfied him. He left, and the next
day had a warrant sworn out for the place.

The trouble wath that kind of strategy is that
the detective is always at a disadvantage when it
comes to testifying on trial. It is very easy to
make a point with a jury that he only complained
because he lost ; if he had won he would have kept
on going tEere and pocketed his winnings. Then
again, it doesn't follow that the game is crooked
because a man loses. Perhaps he is not a skillful
player. When an ofBcer of the law makes a big
winning at a gambling game and then informs the
authorities, his sense of justice cannot be called
into question, but where is the case?

A summer tourist describes a scene in a New
England village. About a table sat three stran-
gers who had started a friendly game of poker by
roping in the usual country jay. After an hour's
play they had fleeced their victim to the tune of
$40. He w^as good natured and did not growd and
the game continued.

The scoundrels showed no mercy. They did not
let their victim win even a few dollars to encourage
him but either stacked the cards or whipsawed
him until he w^as compelled to drop. At the last
pot the jay was $65 loser.

THE POLICE AND THE GAMBLERS. 249

"Have you had enough?" asked the leader of the
gang, rising with a smile — and his winnings.

The jay's countenance immediately underwent a
marked change. He had every appearance of a
man consumed with virtuous wrath, as he drew a
revolver out of his pocket, and said:

"Gentlemen, I am one of the selectmen of this
town. You may consider yourselves under arrest."

The gang, thunderstruck, was led to the lock-up
where it rested for the night. On the following
morning the sharpers were brought before this
same selectman. The constable had searched them
and the contents of their pockets were placed on
the table.

"Gentlemen," said the selectman, suavely, "you
are charged with gambling and obtaining money
by fraud. What have you to say?"

"Only this," replied the leader of the gang.
**You were gambling just as much as any of us, and
if we have broken the law so have you."

"Not at all," responded the selectman, with an
extremely judicial air. "I was gambling merely to
collect evidence. However, if you wish to make a
test on this point I will remand you for trial."

"We w^ould rather have it settled here," said the
prisoner, hastily.

"Then," said the selectman, calmly, "the sen-
tence is a fine of fifty dollars each or thirty days in
the county jail."

250 JACK POTS.

They paid their fines, and the money went to the
State — or to the selectman. Next day the jay was
at the hotel ready .to be taken in again.

The "squealer" is a frequent figure in court.
He has to be taken into account, although he is a
contemptible character. He is invariably a fellow
of low cunning, who has the instincts of a cheat,
and when he sits into a game, whatever it may be,
he has formed a plan to cheat the other fellows.
The result is that he is cheated, and then he roars
like a stuck gig, and runs for help to the police.
He is the same fellow who goes to town to buy
a stock of counterfeit money, which he intended
to work off on his friends and neighbors, and when
he finds that he has given good money for a lot
of sawdust, invokes the protection of the law that
he has been endeavoring to violate. There need
be no pity for the biter when he gets bit, but we
can afford to drop a tear for the honest fellow who
is taken in by the bunko poker player.

One of the most striking instances of a hair
raising bunko poker game occurred in Los An-
geles, and the funniest part of the whole story is
that, with three men working him, the victim him-
self proposed the game and introduced the three
steerers to each other, all of which was part of the
play.

The gentleman was a merchant -from the East,
who had come to California for a year's stay to

THE POLICE AND THE GAMBLERS. 251

benefit his health. He was extremely wealthy aivi
also sportively inclined, although all his knowledge
had been gained among gentlemen like himself,
so that he had no suspicion of evil. To the hotel
there came a man representing himself as an offi-
cial of the Canadian Pacific railroad, who had been
East on business and was now on his way to San
Francisco. The Eastern gentleman soon made
the acquaintance of the railroad man and for two
days the pair chummed together.

Another guest arrived from Chicago, who also
made known the fact that he was destined for San
Francisco. Anxious to make things pleasant for
his friends the old gentleman introduced one stran-
ger to the other, seeing that they both intended
remaining at the hotel over Sunday and then go-
ing on to San Francisco. The newcomer was in
the boot and shoe business.

Soon there was another arrival, and he proved
to be a high roller. He was a stockman returning
to his ranch from market, and he had a roll of
bills as big as his head. He ordered everything of
the finest and hardly ever flashed forth anything
less than a tenner. It did not take him long to
get acquainted with the old gentleman, in fact,
he got pretty well mixed up with every soul about
the place before he had been there a night — all but
the Canadian Pacific man and the boot and shoe
dealer. When he did meet these two worthies it

252 JACK POTS.

was through the medium of the genial gentleman
from the East.

With such good fellows around him the onJ)-
outcome could be a poker game, and soon it was
going. The railroad magnate did not know much
about the game, the boot and shoe man hoped it
would be a small limit, and the stockman did not
care how high it went — the higher the better for
him, he said.

So it started. It opened at three o'clock Satur-
day afternoon and was still going at 9 a. m. the
next day. Then it ended. The old gentleman
was out $1,700 in cash and $40,000 in checks. The
stockman had not a dollar of his big roll left, which
was easily $10,000, and he, too, had given checks
for more than $25,000. The game had simply been
a ripsnorter and everything went.

It was the stockman who threw up his hand. He
said he could not stand it any longer. The three
agreed to give him a revenge game after dinner,
and so the matter rested for a time. When the
old gentleman had taken a much needed nap, and
had his dinner, he was handed a note signed by the
railroad magnate, expressing regret that a tele-
gram had been received necessitating his going
to San Francisco without delay, and that the boot
and shoe man had decided to accompany him.

With the wings of a bird the gentleman from
the East flew to the apartments of his fellow suf-

THE POLICE AND THE GAMBLERS.

253

ferer, the stockman, and related the facts within his
knowledge.

"Bunkoed!" cried the stockman, and added
much more vigorous language to support his opin-
ion. "I tell you," he wound up, determinedly, ''I
am not going to stand it."

"What can we do?" asked the old gentleman,
helplessly.

"We can't be-
lieve that mes-
sage," returned
the stockman.
"Like as not they
have not left the
city. We will put
the .police on
their trail for one
thing, and then
we will telegraph
to the banks
where we have
given checks
stopping their
payment! Here ! You needn't bother yourself ; I've
had experience with sharpers before. Give me a
list of your checks, and I'll do the telegraphing."

He dashed out of the hotel, and when he came
back he assured his friend that everything had been
done in proper shape.

I hope you do not suspect that I knowingly intro-
duced you to these scoundrels."

254 . JACK POTS.

"Now," said he, knowingly, "let us wait until
to-morrow, and we will save all that money and
most likely bag our game."

"I hope," said the old gentleman, timidly, "that
you do not suspect that I knowingly introduced
you to these scoundrels?"

"Certainly not, certainly not," replied the stock-
man, heartily. "My dear sir, no matter what may
be the outcome of this affair, I absolve you of all
the blame."

Monday morning there was another surprise
awaiting the old gentleman. The stockman was
missing. The old gentleman went to the police
headquarters and the telegraph office, and found
that no information had been lodged or telegrams
sent. The stockman had been in the game bigger
than any of the trio. His roll had been good only
for a hundred or so, the balance being counterfeit,
and he had remained behind to keep the old gentle-
man off the trail while his pals got a good start.
The victim stopped the checks on all the distant
banks, but he never saw his cash again.

There is a clever story told on one of the prom-
inent railroad officials of Georgia, who sat down
to shear and rose up shorn. He went to New
York to attend a meeting of the Southern Railway
and Steamship Association, and through the intro-
duction of several high officials was led into a "soci-
ety" game of poker.

THE POLICE AND THE GAMBLERS.

255

There was a presi-
dent of an insurance
company in the game,
who sat in only to fill
up, as he was not a
regular player,
and the other
three were
society bloods,
who were
more used to
dancing than
card playing.
When the
game started
the railroad
man remarked
that it wasn't
a fair show for
the others.

' ^ Y o u
k n o w," h e
said, apologetical]y,*'that
everybody down South
plays poker ; it's like
mother's milk to them,
and that gives me a big
advantage. However,
ni promise to not play
tricks."

His comparnon leaned up against the

nearest lamppost and laughed

until he cried.

256 - JACK POTS.

Of course this was said more in fun than by way
of boasting, but before the evening was over he
wished he had kept his mouth shut. He played in
the worst kind of luck, because he held good hands,
such as warranted high betting, always to be de-
feated by the better hands of his society opponents.
The insurance man simply chipped along, with only
an occasional call, and put in the rest of his time
making humorous remarks about the superiority
of the southern style of poker playing.

* Finally he caught a pat flush, and he deemed
himself lucky, as it came at a time when he had
but thirty dollars left. There wxre good hands all
around, and repeated raises, which made the rail-
road man feel so much the better. But before it
came to the actual betting after the draw his money
was all gone, and he had to play his face. Then
it came to a show down, and to his horror the
young man on his right held four nines.

He rose from the table and offered an humble
apology for his remarks at the beginning of the
sitting, and nobody was unkind enough to laugh.
But when he and his insurance friend got outside,
and he was obliged to ask for money to pay his
hotel bill, his companion leaned up against the
nearest lamppost and laughed until he cried.

There is one thing to be said in favor of the
professional gambler. He is game. When the
sucker undertakes to skin the supposed innocent

THE POLICE AND THE GAMBLERS.

257

and finds that he is a wolf in sheep's clothing, he
wants his money back, but when the gambler finds
that his schemes have miscarried, he lets it go at
that, and rarely whimpers, although he may tell
about it as a good story.

"Yes," said the short-card man, with a grin,
'John is a good fellow, but he's got a heap to learn
about the game of poker. Now, for instance, I
met him the other night, and he proposed a little
game. I was needing money that night and I fell
in with the proposition gladly. John has plenty
of stufT, and he does not hesitate to bet it as well
as he knows how. I figured that with him and me
playing a nice,
sociable two-
handed game,
the element of
chance would
vanish, and I
would be rea-
sonably sure
of getting
what I wanted.

''W e sat
down and I
played square
for awhile. Luck ran about even. Neither of us
had lost or won anything. We piked along for an
hour or so, and then I thought I might just as well
wind the whole thing up.

Hold on there." said John, and my heart turned to
stone. " I've got four aces."

258 JACK POTS.

"It came my deal and I fixed the cards. I gave
him three aces on the go-in, and took four kings
myself. You know how these amateurs are — they
think there is nothing bigger than three aces. I
figured that with his knowledge of the game he
would bet till the cows came home on those three
bullets.

''John's eyes bulged out when he saw the three
aces, and he gave it a good lively tilt. I came back
at him, and there was a large wad in the middle of
the table when the draw came. John allowed he
would take two cards. I took one, for the looks
of the thing, and it was his age. I bet ten, and
he came back with twenty. We kept on until every
cent I had was on the cloth, and John had shoved
in his watch.

*'I admired his nerve, but as I was fixed I
couldn't afford to be sorry for him. He rustled
around and got valuables enough to call my last
raise. I laid down the four kings I had all the
time, and began to rake in the pot.

'' 'Hold on there,' said John, and my heart
turned to stone. 'I've got four aces.'

"And," continued the short-card man, reflec-
tively, "I'll be cussed if he hadn't caught the other
ace in the draw, and I was broke for a month.
Nobody but a novice in poker would have been
guilty of a draw like that, when the cards were all
fixed to beat him. No, no; John can't play cards."

CHAPTER XVIII.

SUPERSTITIOUS PLAYERS — QUEENS AND TENS LOUIS

LAID THEM DOWN EUCHRE AND POKER

AN OLD STORY.

There being so much chance about cards of
course there is superstition among players. It has
been said that all players are superstitious, and that
may be true but certainly not to the same degree.
Some are to such a ridiculous extent that it utterly
ruins their game. The man who must have his
seat just so, must not meet a cross-eyed man, or
must meet a man with a hump, and can't play un-
less a dozen crotchety notions are complied with,
is not likely to play a good game once out of fifty
times. A man must recognize that most of his
success comes from his own endeavors or else he
m.ight as well shut his eyes and bet at random.
Of such capers as walking around your chair to
change your luck, spitting over the left shoulder,
changing your seat, and lots of other simple tricks,
even the wisest of poker players have indulged in
them, but more for fun than with any fixed belief
in their efficacy.

There are other matters, however, in connection
with poker, in which superstition plays a prominent
part. Most poker players also indulge in faro, and

259

26o JACK POTS.

will have noticed the system players — in fact, may
be one themselves. One man believes that the cards
always play out the way they started, another
thinks they must break even, one will always play
the face cards open, and it is a maxim with the
majority to never copper the ace on the last turn.
No amount of breaking will convince a system
player that he is wrong — it is always something
else that broke him. The faro dealer likes to see
the system players in front of him; they support
the bank.

Poker players do not go to those extremes, but
many of them have funny notions about cards. I
have met gamblers who would go broke on three
aces. They acknowledged that there were plenty
of hands in the pack to beat three aces, but they
contended that the hands wouldn't be out at the
same time. I have known men who maintained
that they never had three aces beaten, although
they had seen them beaten many times when held
by other men. Other men admitted that they had
had three aces beaten but only on rare occasions;
not enough to shake their faith in the rule.

Nearly every old player has some such supersti-
tibn. He has a pet hand; one which, if he will
not exactly go broke on, he will bet fiercely and
confidently. For this very reason no doubt the
favorite hand frequently wins. The man who be-
lieves that three aces are invincible is apt to bet

SUPERSTITIOUS PLAYERS. 261

them as if they were four, and carry dismay to his
opponents.

I have met two players who beHeved that queens
•and tens were invincible. The men were not in
the same town, by the way, and never met so far
as I know. One man admitted that he had been
done up on the hand once or twice, but the other
man was adamant. This latter was a Frenchman
of Bismarck, Dakota, locally known as Louis.

This was twenty-five years ago, when Bismarck
had been busted by the collapse of Jay Cooke, and
had not started on the return trip to prosperity.
When the railroad had entered the town in 1873,
it was a red hot place. Everything was wide open,
and there was lots of money.

When Jay Cooke failed the railroad stopped, the
railroad men left town and the gamblers soon fol-
lowed. Pretty near all the money went with the
gamblers and for the next five or six years it was
the queerest sporting town on earth. There was
all the inclination, but the means were lacking.
Everything was wide open, and practically every-
body played but there w^as so little money in town
that plunging was out of the question.

Across the Missouri River was Fort Abraham
Lincoln, where was stationed the Seventh Cavalry
under the famous Custer. Of course, that was a
source of supply. The soldiers on and after pay
day drifted over to Bismarck and dropped a few;

262 JACK POTS.

but they were pretty fair players themselves, and
just as liable to carry away a bundle as leave it.
The Coulson Line of boats plying between Yank-
ton and upper Missouri points, dropped a passen-
ger now and then who had a few dollars, and oc-
casionally somebody with money wandered in
from an Indian reservation. Hardly any one came
into town to settle, and the transients did not stay
long enough to get acquainted. Then there came
occasionally a post trader or Montana freighter
who wanted to blow in about five hundred dollars
in three days, dance on the billiard table, shoot
out the lights and break mirrors, and otherwise let
off steam.

It was quite a happy family of busted sports, all
too sharp to prey on each other, and with no one
else to prey on. So they played with each other,
on the square and just as fiercely as if there were
thousands at stake instead of five dollar bills. To
this colony Louis belonged.

He was a painter by trade, but there were very
few painting jobs in Bismarck, so he must have
eked out a living by some other means. He was
an occasional poker player, and really a good one,
because he. was cool, good natured, courageous
and knew the value of a hand. His only fault was
that he did not play out his luck. When every-
thing seemed to be going his way, he would get
up and cash in his chips, and jump the game. The

SUPERSTITIOUS PLAYERS. 263 ,

Other fellows agreed that a man who would throw
away his luck when he had it would end up in not
having any.

Louis was the man who believed in two queens
and two tens. He never referred to the subject
except when he won a pot on his favorite two pair,
and then he would say: "There they are. I tell
you, boys, you can't beat them."

Then the boys would sneer or wink at each
other, and privately w^onder how a man could be
so simple, although every mother's son had a pet
superstition of his own.

One night Swede Pete opened a jack pot on two
queens and two tens. Everybody stayed and on
the final show dow^n everybody had him beat.

''Now look at that !" he said, indignantly. 'T just
thought I'd give Louis' hand a whirl, and see
where it's landed me."

''That's all right," said Louis, tranquilly. '*I
never said they would win for everybody; only for
me."

One night some time later Louis was in a game,
and the boys put up a job on him. They couldn't
have done it except for the fact that Louis had
struck a .good piece of painting, and was flush.
Being in more than his usual good humor, he
tucked away three hot Scotches in the course of
the evening, which, not being his ordinary tipple,
made him rather hazy. He was keen enough,

264 JACK POTS.

however, to keep ahead of the game, but when one
of the boys treated him to a fourth drink of the
same he was rather silly.

The hot Scotch was brought in on a tray, and
underneath was a cold deck. It was Pete's deal
and Louis got his favorite two pair. Pete took
three kings and a pair of sevens himself, as a wise
precaution lest Louis should draw another queen,
as he had been known to do occasionally.

Louis betrayed no emotion on seeing his favor-
ites; firstly, because he was too good a player to
give himself away, and secondly, because he always
took his favorite hand as a matter of course.

There was no raising before the draw, and Louis
took one card. Pete stood pat, and the other three
players dropped out promptly.

''You don't want any, eh?" said Louis.

''No," replied Pete, in a loud voice, and in a
blustering way, trying to make it appear that he
was blufifing. "I guess these are good enough."

"Well, it's your bet."

Pete laid his cards down, and then with great
care counted all his white chips, then all his red
ones, and then all his blues. He shoved them all
up into the centre of the table, and looked at Louis
defiantly.

Louis looked at his cards, then gazed up at the
smoky oil lamp that hung from the ceiling, and
then fixed his eyes on Pete.

SUPERSTITIOUS PLAYERS.

265

**I wonder what you've
got," he said, dreamily.

"Got you beat," said
Pete, briefly.

"Well, I don't know
but you have,"
draw'led Louis.

Then he
wrapped up his
bills, put them
in his pocket,
stacked up his
chips, and called
to the barkeeper
to cash them.

"Ain't you go-
ing to call?" de-
manded ' Pete,
not trying to
hide his amazement.

"Haven't got any-
thing to call on," said
Louis, as he arose to go.

"Why, you "

The other three
howled with laughter at
this give-away, and
Louis smiled amiably.

"Two queens and two

Queens and two tens,"
he said, slcwly, "never
were beaten in my hand
— in a square deal."

266 JACK POTS.

tens," he said, slowly, ''never were beaten yet in
my hand — in a square deal."

Then he walked out, and no one could ever get
him to explain whether he suspected the trick or
really weakened on his favorites. But it was
noticed that he never played them quite so strongly
in the future.

Speaking of put-up hands, they are not so easily
worked as one might imagine, unless the victim is
particularly green. With clumsy sharpers the
trick is apt to be helped out with violence.

A young Finlander came into Montana one day,
and like other precocious youths fancied that he
understood the game of poker. There was no
trouble finding a gentleman who was willing to
afford him a little amusement, and who knew of a
retired room where the cards could be shufifled
without molestation.

The game was strictly for cash, and progressed
with varying fortune for about an hour. Then the
tricky man concluded it was time to shake things
up. So he provided himself with a full hand and
gave the Finlander two pair. There was thirteen
dollars in the pot. He drew one card.

It was not intended that the Finlander should
have more than two pair, but the dealer made a
botch and gave him an ace, making three aces and
two kings. The mistake was discovered in time,
however, and the superfluous ace grabbed from

SUPERSTITIOUS PLAYERS. 267

his hand and destroyed. The Finlander drew an-
other card, and th'is time he drew a king, making
three kings and a pair of aces. When the dealer
discovered that the greenhorn had him beaten out
in spite of the crooked work, he settled matters by
taking the pot anyway, and the final result was the
Finlander had to be pried of¥ by the police.

There used to 1)e a trick worked very success-
fully on railway trains, where card playing was in
order. Two or four men would be playing euchre,
and the cards would be worked around until the
victim found himself with a hand containing three
aces.

Then one of the other players would say: 'T
wish I was playing poker."

The man with the three aces would eye them
tenderly, and ask: "Why?"

''Well," the other fellow w-ould reply, 'T've got
a pretty good hand here. If you let me discard
tw^o cards, I can beat any hand in the deck."

Nearly every time the man with three aces would
fall into the trap.

"T'll discard two cards and go you," he would
say.

The discards would be made, the betting begin,
and when the show-dow^n came the man with three
aces would be confronted with three hearts, clubs
or some suit, and be informed that a flush beat
three aces. The victim would be mortified, but he

268 JACK POTS.

couldn't see how he had any kick coming, so he
would surrender his coin.

One day when this trick was played on the Illi-
nois Central, just out of Dubuque, the victim had
a friend looking over his shoulder. He had made
no remark during the preliminary talk or the bet-
ting, but when the cards were shown he leaned
over and touched his friend on the arm.

''Don't pay that money," he said, quietly.

The flush man looked up angrily.

''What's the reason he won't pay it?" he de-
moded. "A flush beats three aces, don't it?"

"Undoubtedly," was the response, "but you
haven't got a flush."

"Haven't got a flush? Well, I'd like to know
if I haven't. These are all clubs, and a flush is
where all the cards are of the same suit."

There was a general chorus of "That's so," and
"You're right," but the objector was not disturbed.

"Popular error — pretty nearly right, but not
quite," he returned. "A flush, gentlemen, is five
cards of the same suit. Now, you cannot play
three cards as a hand in poker ; therefore your hand
is foul and does not win anything. Of course,
neither do the three aces win ; both hands are foul
and the pot must be divided."

As it happened, they all were gentlemen, or pro-
fessed to be, and they saw the force of the argu-
ment, so the pot was divided, and no one hurt.

SUPERSTITIOUS PLAYERS. 269

This recalls another railway card story, which
has been told several times and fathered on differ-
ent men, but the tenor of the story is the same.

Traveling in a Pullman car one day were a com-
mercial traveler and a mining millionaire who owed
his fortune to his faculty of taking advantage of an
opportunity and of his fellow man. As the train
sped along the pair dropped into a friendly game
of euchre.

An hour or so passed, and then the millionaire
dealt and turned up a queen. The eyes of the
drummer brightened as he gazed at his hand.

'T w^ish we were playing poker," he ventured.

The mine owner looked over his cards and said
nothing.

"How^ would you like to change the game?"
asked the man of orders. ''I'd like to play this
hand at poker."

The millionaire glanced at his cards again, and
remarked pleasantly: "Well, I don't care if I do.
But you must let me discard and take this queen."

"Oh, certainly," was the eager response. "I'll
bet you fifty dollars on this hand."

"I'll see that and go a hundred better," returned
the miner.

The commercial traveler smiled with great glee.
"Fll raise you two hundred and fifty," he said,
counting out the money.

"Well," remarked the miUionaire, calmly, "if you

270 JACK POTS.

insist on playing poker, Fm your man. I'll just
go you a thousand better."

This bold bet staggered the young man, but he
had confidence and a thousand dollars, and he
called.

'T have four kings," he said, throwing them on
the board.

"Then I'll take the money," the millionaire re-
plied. 'T have four aces," and he threw them
down before the astonished eyes of the drummer.

"That's all right," said the latter, as soon as he
caught his breath. "That's all right — the money

is yours, but — but — but Say! I'd like to

know what the devil a queen has got to do with
four aces !"

CHAPTER XIX.

reminiscences of william hurt, reformed john

Dougherty's bet of Arizona territory —
his adventures in persia.

A professional gambler is naturally full of poker
stories, but the trouble is that he does not care
about telling them. Of all professional men the
card player is least inclined to talk about his busi-
ness. Amateurs will expatiate by the yard, but
that is because he plays for the fun of it. It is
only when a professional reforms that he indulges
in reminiscences to any extent, and then it is sus-
pected that he does not tell all he knows.

William Hurt in his day was a famous player,
and his experience extended all over the West, and
he was no stranger to the East. He used to say
that he had shuffled the papers all the way from
the roughest mining camps to the most luxurious
clubs. Mr. Hurt reformed, and one day when the
conversation turned on poker and some one told
about a game in the Pacific Club in San Francisco
where a straight flush was held while another one
was being played in the same room at another
table, he turned loose and gave a rendition of the
famous draws he had seen, and some of which he
made.

271

272 JACK POTS.

*'When I speak about great draws and big hands
I refer of course to straight games," he said.
''Nothing is strange in a crooked game. Every
man around the table would hold five aces if you
dealt them to him, and there would be nothing-
remarkable about that; but, speaking about five
aces, I knew of five aces being held in a square
game.

''In New Orleans, in one of the leading clubs,
there is big poker going on every night, and there
are only gentlemen in the game. At the begin-
ning of the game each man takes $500 worth of
chips, and no money passes at the table. The
game is unlimited — that is, the limit is $5,000, but
that is about the same as no limit. They always
play with two decks, and while one is dealt the
other is shufifled ready for the next deal.

"One night four gentlemen were playing. One
held a straight flush pat, and the other held three
aces before the draw. They soon exhausted their
$500 worth of chips and then bet their thousands.
Finally the man with the three aces called for the
draw. In the draw he got two more aces, making
five aces in his hand. He showed his hand right
away, saying there was evidently a mistake in the
deck. • The man with the straight flush claimed the
money. Then the two left the decision to the
other gentlemen about the table and they decided
the bets off. By a mistake the extra ace had been

REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM HURT. 273

shifted from one deck to the other. Now, per-
haps it wasn't so remarkable that one card should
get into the wrong deck, but think of that ace
being next to another ace and that these two aces
should be dealt to a man who already held three
aces in his hand. That's what you might call
oceans of luck.

''Once I was playing in a game in the Russ
House in San Francisco, and I borrowed $500 to
get into the game, by the way. One time when
I was dealing a man across the table had aces up
and I had a king full on queens. I knew what he
had and I knew that there was another ace right
at the bottom of the pack."

Here one of the listeners suggested that Mr.
Hurt was only to talk about square games.

''Well, the draw was square," answered the re-
formed gambler. "I knew what he had before the
draw and I knew where a third ace lay in the deck.
I didn't know what card I gave him when he called
for one. Now, you know a man might play for a
hundred years and not hand out that lonesome
fourth ace right from the top of the pack. Well,
that was where the fourth ace lay, and the fellow
with his ace full broke me with my king full. That
was as remarkable a draw as ever occurred. I
knew the position of three of the aces and the card
he drew was the fourth, to which I paid no atten-
tion, because the chance that he would not get it

2 74 JACK POTS.

was sufficient for me to bet against. Another
aggravating feature was that the man who loaned
me the $500 thought I purposely played away his
money and then divided with the other fellow. I
guess he thinks so to this day, but I tell you I was
a good deal more surprised than he was when I
saw that ace full spread out on the table.

''I held four tens pat in a game I was playing
in at Sioux City," continued Mr. Hurt, when some
one asked him his highest hand that ever was
beaten. ''One of the men playing was very drunk
and very reckless. He had been plunging all the
time, betting high whether he had anything or not.
Of course he won many pots by bluffing, because
no one would call him for a big bet unless he was
well heeled. I was waiting for a big hand, because
I knew that as soon as it came I could break him.

"My four tens came just at the right time.
There was a jack pot and I had the first say. I
opened it gently, say for $25, because I knew the
drunken fellow would come back at me. He did
with a big raise. I just called him, because I want-
ed more play after the draw, and he was sure to
bet everything he had. I looked over my hand as
though in deep thought and then called for one
card. T'll draw to the strength of my hand; give
me three,' said the drunken man.

''Then I made a heavy bet and he came at me
harder. We kept at each other back and forth

REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM HURT. 275

until all our money was on the table, and then I
showed down my four tens. Blamed if he didn't
skin out four queens! Of course I was the one
that was broke.

''I saw a square hand win in a crooked game in
a club house in Butte City, Montana, and I'll tell
you about it, if you insist upon something about
crooked games when I want to tell you about
square games. There were five men playing. Two
of them were in together to do up another two, but
they did not want to take anything from the fifth-
fellow, who was a friend of theirs, though he did
not know there was anything wrong about the
game.

"One of the two who were doing the dirty work
rung in a cold deck, and he dealt great hands to
the fellows who were to be skinned. One was four
nines, I think, and the other a jack full. He was
careful to give no pair to the man he wanted to
befriend, and he dealt his partner the winning
hand; or at least he thought it was the winning
hand. Well, to the surprise of the men who had
put up the cold deck, the fifth fellow with no pair
stood right in and saw every raise. They didn't
dare to kick him or even wink at him, so he piled
his money in with the rest.

"When it came to a show down there was $3,600
on the table, and the fellow that had no pair won
it all. The man that fixed the deck had paid no

276

JACK POTS.

attention to suits; he was looking out only for
pairs and threes and fours. He dealt the fifth man
a four straight of clubs and the one card he drew
made a straight flush.

''The best draw I ever saw was in Olympia dur-
ing a session of the Washington Legislature. One
senator there was wild about poker. I suppose he

had just learned
the game and was
infatuated; at anj^
rate he wanted to
take off the bridle
every handi To
win a hundred on
a bluf^.was worth
a thousand to
him.

'Tn one game
where this senator
was sitting there
was a hand on
which there had
been very heavy
betting before the
draw. The plunger was in, of course, and raised
until all his money was up so there could be no
betting after the draw. He put down his cards and
I never saw a worse hand. He had no pair, not
even a face card, and he was going to throw away

'W^

" I'll draw to a straight flush," said he.

REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM HURT.

2 "^ 7

the bunch and call for five cards when he noticed
that he held the nine and ten of clubs.

'* Til draw to a straight flush/ said he; and do
you know the three cards that came to him were
all nines. Of course he then had four nines and
raked in the pot. One man had three kings and
another had a jack full. I think that was as re-
markable as anything I ever saw in poker.

''I made a rather good draw myself one day on
the train coming from Fresno. Three of the gam-
blers that work the Pullmans tried to get me to
play cards. I
knew their busi-
ness as soon as I
saw^ them, but as
it happened they
did not know me.
Two of them
were dressed as
countrymen, and
the third did the
gentleman play.
He looked as
much like a gen-
tleman as a bull-
dog, by the way.

'They started ,,

"^ He looked as much like a gentleman as a bull dog.

in the stale way,

suggesting a game of euchre. One would remark

-'78 JACK POTS.

that he would hke to bet his euchre hand in a poker
game and another would agree with him. Well, I
consented to play euchre with them, but first I
looked carelessly at their cards, and then went to
my grip. I had a couple of packs of cards in my
bag — not for poker; I never gambled on trains.
Sometimes I made the acquaintance of gentlemen
on trains and afterward played with them in their
clubs or hotels, but on the trains I played nothing
save an occasional game of whist.

''I could not resist, however, attending to the
case of those three train gamblers. I happened to
have a pack just like the cards with which they
w^ere playing and I took from it an ace. Then I
joined in the game and bided my time. Then one
of them finally said he'd like to bet his hand in
poker, and the others said they'd agree to change
the game, holding the hands dealt to them in
euchre. I consented also and we bet our money.
They bet all they had, including a roll of bogus
bills, called 'spiels,' used for that sort of work.
Then I showed down four aces and pocketed all
the money. You should have heard them roar and
kick when I took the pot !

"At Lathrop I saw a hotel runner I used to
know. I pointed out to him the gamblers, and
then I handed to him the roll of 'spiels' and told
him to give it back to the fellows, but I kept the
good money.

REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM HURT. 279

'* 'Great Lord!' said the runner. 'Did them fel-
lers try to skin you ?'

" They did,' I answered, softly.

" 'The fools!' said he. 'I put up half the money
to stake 'em to make a winning on the train, and
they played it ofif against Billy Hurt, taking him
for a dude.' "

Another famous gambler is John Dougherty —
not reformed. In the palmy days of Tombstone,
John first came to the surface and has been on
the top wave ever since. He is known from East
to West, but his chief stamping ground is in the
territories, where his free and easy ways are not
likely to cause so much remark. Dougherty never
sat down and reeled off a lot of entertaining talk
to a reporter, but he had adventures enough to
make a book.

In 1889 Dougherty sat down with a man named
Ike Jackson, a wealthy cattle owner and great
poker player of Colorado City, Texas, to determine
the poker championship of the wild and woolly
West. It w^as in Bowen's saloon in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. There was no limit to the game and it
was understood that both men were exceptionally
well heeled. It was also understood that the game
was perfectly on the square, as neither man was to
be trifled with.

They played along in a desultory way for hours,
when finally both got good hands at the same time.

28o JACK POTS.

The betting then became fast and furious. More
than a hundred citizens of Santa Fe, including
every gambler in town, had gathered about to
watch the progress of the game. Among them
was Governor Prince, who knew and liked Dough-
erty. After about $100,000 had been piled on the
board the Texas man said to Dougherty that he
w^as running a little short of money, but that he
had a ranch and ten thousand head of cattle in
Texas, and that he would like the privilege of mak-
ing a deed of them, should it become necessary to
bet $100,000 more. Dougherty replied that it was
perfectly agreeable to him, but asked that the same
privilege be granted to him if it became necessary
to put up real estate as collateral in order to play
his hand for what it was worth. Jackson assented,
of course.

After the Texan had exhausted all his ready cash
and Dougherty came back at him with another
raise, Jackson concluded to bring things to a finish.
So he raised the Arizona man $100,000, throwing
the deed to his Texas property into the pot.

Dougherty called for pen and paper, and wrote
hurriedly for a few minutes. Then, catching the
Governor's eye, he beckoned him to one side, and
before Prince knew what had happened he was
looking down the barrel of a murderous 45-calibre
revolver.

"Now, Governor, you sign this," said Dough-

REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM HURT. 281

erty, and he handed his excellency a paper that
contained about a dozen lines of writing. ''Sign it, I
say, or I will kill you. I like you and would fight
for you, but I
love my repu-
tation as a
poker player
better than I do
you or any one
else."

The Govern-
or, w i t h o u t
looking at the
contents of the
paper — in fact,
he was pressed
for time just then — nervous-
ly attached his signature.
Then, w^alking back to the
table, Dougherty threw the
paper in the pot, and said impressively as he did
so : 'T raise you the Territory of New Mexico.
There's the deed."

The Texan of course had to lay down, but as he
did so he muttered an oath that might have been
heard in Lower California. Then, as he saw
Dougherty rake in the big pot, Jackson gave a
nervous twitch at his mustache and said : ''That's
all right, Dougherty ; scoop it in, it's yours, but it's
a damn good thing for you that Jim Hogg, the
governor of Texas, isn't here !"

" Now, Governor, you sign this,'
said Dougherty.

282 JACK POTS.

Ill those days Dougherty would not go into a
game unless the other players could show at least
$10,000 each. There was nothing small about him
but his feet. When he ordered a drink he threw
a fiver on the counter, and if any change was
offered him he felt insulted. But hard times struck
the West, and poker — that is, poker of the Dough-
erty stripe — became a scarce article. So w^hen he
got down to his last $50,000 he, emigrated to New
York. While there he learned that in Persia the
young men played poker fairly well, and when they
got a hand that amounted to anything they bet it
until the cows came home. That was the kind of
gam'e Dougherty was looking for, and so to Persia
he went, or he says he did, and we'll have to let it
go at that.

He had no trouble in being introduced to Per-
sian poker circles, and he was soon a popular fel-
low, even among the princes, although he could
not talk the language of the country. He also had
to learn a great deal that was new to him in the
way of poker. Four deuces beat four aces, a ''lit-
tle dog" topped a sequence, and there were several
other wrinkles that caused him to open his eyes.
Again, there is never any money in sight. A man
sits near the table and^ records the bets, and a set-
tlement is made after the game is over. This book-
keeper, or whatever they call him, is also a linguist,
and whenever foreigners play with these princes he
translates the raises and such like.

REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM HURT. 2S3

Well, one night Dougherty had 1)een trailing in
only to be beaten on the show clown. Finally he
caught a pair of sixes at the time one of the princes
had four of a kind. There had been a deal of jolly-
ing and horse-play going on all night, and Dough-
erty, of course, couldn't understand the words that
were being slung around, but he laughed as heart-
ily as the others and always looked intensely inter-
ested. He would simply skin his cards, come in
when the notion struck him or lay down. When
he picked up the sixes he looked the Persian in the
eye and the Persian laughed.

''Tre-le-lu," said the Persian.

"Guying me, I reckon," said Dougherty to him-
self; "but ril give you some of your own sort of
w^ords. Tru-le-lum," he said aloud.

''Tru-le-lili-lo," said the Persian.

"Tru-le-lele-lili-lole-lum," replied Dougherty.

Scarcely had he got the words out of his mouth
when the young prince threw down his four of a
kind, kicked over the table, fell forward on a sofa
and broke out in a sob.

''Great heavens, man !" exclaimed the interpre-
ter. ''You raised him eleven millions that time!"

Of course Dougherty raked in the pot, and thus
having mastered the language he was so successful
that when he left Persia he was rich beyond the
wildest dreams of avarice. But he bet it all on the
elections and lost.

CHAPTER XX.

now THE BEAR SPOILED THE JACK POT TOUCHING

TALE OF A DOG THAT TIPPED OFF POKER
HANDS TO HIS MASTER.

It is no doubt a slander, but people will persist
in saying that when a party of men go on a fishing
trip they never start with less than a gallon of liquid
refreshment in a jug, and this statement has also
been made about hunters. There may be some
truth in these stories, but there is certainly no
doubt that no expedition was ever properly
equipped without a pack of cards. I don't mean
a party of boys going after woodchuck, but from
two to a dozen of nice men who have had experi-
ence and know that there is bound to come a few
rainy days, when it is much better for the lungs to
stay under the tent and shuffle the pasteboards than
go tramping after game that has too much sense
to be abroad.

It is about one of those sensible hunting trips
that this story treats. It was a California affair,
and the inciting cause of the hunt was a grizzly
bear which was supposed to linger around Mono
Lake. The party comprised Alex McGregor, Jim
Watts, Manuel Lopez and Sing Wong — the latter
a servitor — and they pitched a tent near the lake

23^

THE BEAR SPOILED THE JACK POT. 285

to have four weeks fun, but, as the Fates willed it,
the fun was all crowded into one week and there
was lots to spare. We will let McGregor tell the
story. . /

''You see, Jim Watts had some notions of his
own about how to have a good time in camp, and
when we were putting up our stufif for the trip Jim
said it wouldn't do for a man to make too radical
a change in his way of life, and for his part he
didn't propose to break up his constitution by
chopping wood or going to bed at an unseemly
hour. So he piled in a coal-oil lamp, a deck of
cards arid a four-gallon can of kerosene. We had
plenty of beans, and Sing was cautioned to reserve
from the pot enough to furnish chips for a pretty
stiff game.

"We pitched our tent on the bank of a little
stream and got fixed up in shape, and I regret to
say that owing to the pernicious counsels and ad-
vice of Watts we did no hunting, but sat up all
night playing poker and slept every day until noon.
Sing did all the work except taking care of the
horses, which a Chinaman can't do. Manuel did
that, and we allowed him the kitty for it. It came
in very handy, because he had the worst kind of
luck, and went broke regularly. -every night.

''One night we had a fine game going on and
were playing for a jack pot which had gone around
four times. I had an opening hand. Manuel had

286

JACK POTS.

something good, and Watts wanted only one card.
Just as we were calling for cards Sing jumped up

with a yell from his

blankets at the back

of the tent and

stampeded right

over our game,

knocking the oil

can, on which we

were playing,

wrong end up

and scattering

the beans all

around.

''Manuel
pulled his re-
volver and was
about to take a
shot at Sing,
when we heard
a growl, and turning our
heads saw the gray muz-
zle of a grizzly poked
through the back of the
tent into the syrup dish.
Manuel was mad clear
through, and crying
'Dama you, spoila such a pot like him! Carajo!'
he popped at the bear's head.

\\\v

Sing jumped up with a yell.

THE BEAR SPOILED THE JACK POT. 287

'Then we all got up and went out of the tent.
I was in a considerable hurry and took the front
tent pole with me, and Jim tripped over the lamp
en route. The bear came in rather hastily at the
back and knocked down the other tent pole. That
brought down the whole arrangement about his
ears, and in two seconds there w^as more fun than
a barrel of monkeys in that camp.

'The lamp broke and exploded when it fell, and
evidently the plug had fallen out of the oil can,
for everything was ablaze in no time. Old Bruin —
for we discovered afterward by the club-foot tracks
that he was- the disturber — got tangled up in the
burning tent, and in rolling about he sopped up a
good deal of the oil. While he was slamming
things around like a fully developed earthquake
we stood at a safe distance and plugged revolver
bullets into the muss, which didn't improve the
bear's temper.

"It was probably less than a minute when he
came out of the ruins, blazing like a Fourth of July
celebration. His oil-soaked hair w^as on fire in
patches and pieces of burning canvas hung about
him like streamers. And of all the howling and
roaring I ever heard that was the worst. The old
fellow just stormed around that camp, clawing at
the fire, tearing the canvas with his teeth, and belt-
ing everything that came in his way. When he'd
swing a paw and hit a tree the bark would fly up
ten feet.

288

JACK POTS.

''When he came into view Manuel and I shinned
up two tall trees and Sing crawled into a hollow-
log and kept quiet, but Jim Watts stood there like
a chump and watched the circus. We couldn't
kill the bear because our guns were in the tent

and were being
burned up, and
revolvers were of
no account
against a beast in
such tantrums.
Watts did pepper
him, though, and
got into trouble
for doing it. His
bullets finally at-
tracted Bruin's
attention and he made
a rush for the daring
marksman.

'Then Watts con-
cluded to leave that lo-
cality. He didn't have
time to pick out a
route. He just had to scoot, and he made a suc-
cess of it. He headed for the bank of the creek,
which was about ten feet higher th^n the water,
with the illuminated bear in hot pursuit. There
was no chance to dodge or turn, and W^atts took

He came out of the ruin blazing like
a Fourth of July.

THE BEAR SPOILED THE JACK POT. 289

the leap. He struck feet first about twenty feet
from the bank, and went down ker-chunk.

"He came up to breathe just as old Bruin piled
over the bank and fell into the water with a splash
and a sizzle. Watts then swam under water and
crawled silently out in a dark place. Old Bruin
kept straight across and landed on the opposite
bank. His plunge had extinguished him and he
was blazing only with wrath, so he tore away
through the brush, growling and making the bark

"Watts came back to camp, and when we gath-
ered around the burning ruins of our once happy
home he showed up a bobtail flush, which he had
held in his left hand all the time, and said : 'Wasn't
that a dandy hand to draw to in a jack pot?' "

When the lower order of animals are spoken of
the mind naturally reverts to the dog. To those
who have not studied the habits of that sagacious
and noble animal the following story will sound
fishy, but dog fanciers will readily concede its truth,
and could no doubt match it with others much
more wonderful. It rests on the authority of a
gentleman who made his appearance at the hotel
clerk's desk, while that individual was counting a
large roll of bills.

His attire was a sort of black drapery, and fell
about his lean form in folds that a decorator might
envy. He had a week's growth of anarchistic bris-
tles on his dirty though good-natured phiz, and his

290

JACK POTS.

left eye had a peculiar squint that suggested a lat-
ent knowledge of
something or other.
As the shadow fell
across the desk the
clerk looked up and
asked what was want-
ed. The visitor
leaned easily
against the
desk, adjusted
a greasy tie
that showed a
disposition to
keep company
with his right
ear, and said in a
confidential tone :
''I might not
look it, but I'm a
college graduate.
You may marvel
at the state of my
toilet, but since
leaving the old home in
Maine I have had some
very strange experi-
ences."

" 1 might not look it, but I'm a college The clcrk DUt awaV the

graduate." -l v- ^ j

bills in the safe and then became an active listener.

THE BEAR SPOILED THE JACK POT. 291

''You see," continued the stranger, ''being a col-
lege graduate I thought I had a head for engineer-
ing and went West to prospect in silver mines.
Then I drifted north into the Montana gold fields,
where I settled in Lone Gulch on Bloody Run.
There I published the Lone Gulch Advocate for
two months. I forget now what I advocated, but
I remember that I printed a true story one day
about a prominent official. In twenty-four hours
thereafter I was going down the gulch like a long-
distance runner.

''While filling the important position of opinion
moulder on the Advocate a friend of mine comes
in one day and says: 'Bill, I have a valuable dog.
He can waltz, he can sing and he can play on the
piano, but I want a drink and I'll soak him to you
for a dime.'

"So I takes the canine and he followed me here,
there and everywhere. Being generally short of
cash I had to keep moving, and finally I came to
a place where they w^ere building a big irrigating
ditch, and there I got a job. I found quite a num-
ber of college graduates like myself, and at the
end of the first week when we were paid off we sat
down to a quiet game of poker.

"As soon as the cards were dealt I noticed
Calamity (that's the dog) take a quiet w^alk around
the crowd and then come back and crawl under
my chair. Presently I felt something bump

292 JACK POTS.

against my legs. I looked under the table and
doggone if that dog wasn't knocking his head
against me in the most systematic way. I didn't
know at first what to make of it, and at the next
deal I watched him closer. Then I saw that he
was taking tab of the other fellows' cards. He
just seemed to peek once out of the corner of his
eye, and then apparently wrote it down in his mind.

''When he got under my chair again and began
to bump me with his head I paid strict attention,
and soon made out the code. You see, he'd tap
me lightly at first to show which player he meant ;
one tap signified the first man to my left, two taps
the next man, and so on. Having given me that
cue, he'd scratch me with one paw to show that
the fellow held a king, twice if it was a queen, hug
me with his paw if it was a jack, and with both
paws if it was an ace. Then he'd bump my leg
twice if the man held a pair, three times for threes,
and so on. There was much more of the code,
which I only learned after several sittings, but I've
told you enough to show you what a lollah he
was."

''But didn't the signaling consume lots of time?"
asked the clerk, suspiciously.

"No, indeed; not a bit of it. Calamity was a
very rapid sender, and after I got onto his style
it was easy. I'm a pretty good telegrapher myself,
and thirty seconds after the dog went around the

THE BEAR SPOILED THE JACK POT. 293

table I'd know the hands of every man in the game.
I could always manage to delay the betting half a
minute, you see."

''Remarkable dog, wasn't he? Well, sir, I beat
all of the boys out of their coin, and my success
was so marked that they finally suspected me of
being a professional, and run me out of camp. But
I didn't mind that, and pretty soon I was cutting a
swath all through the West. I got so I wouldn't
play with any one but a millionaire or railroad
president."

''Very remarkable story," said the hotel clerk.
"But you don't look like you hurt your back carry-
ing around any of the coin now."

"Lost it all in speculating in grain," replied the
stranger, with a sigh.

"And where's Calamity?"

"Dead. I was taken ill with the toothache one
night and couldn't play. Calamity missed me, but
such w^as his thirst for poker that he went into the
room and began butting another fellow. He didn't
understand the code, and being just then a heavy
loser, arose in his wrath and kicked the dog out of
the second-story window, and he broke his neck.
I wouldn't take a million dollars for that dog."

CHAPTER XXL

PRACTICAL JOKING HOW THE DENTIST WAS FIXED

THE FRESH BASEBALL REPORTER AND THE PLAYERS.

Although poker is a social game it is not one
wherein practical jokes are encouraged. It has
been discovered that there is more fun when every-
body attends strictly to business, barring the few
pleasantries that may be exchanged in the way of
badinage, and which are frequently useful when
one is running a bluff. Yet there are periods when
a joke can be worked successfully without danger
of making an enemy for life.

Several traveling men were sitting around the
stove in a country tavern one night, wondering
what to do to pass away the evening before the
hour of retiring, and one man suggested a game
of penny ante. The suggestion met with favor,
and on being broached to the landlord he said he
didn't mind and would join them if they had no
objection. They said he would be very welcome.

''You mustn't nary one of ye breathe a word of
this to my old woman, cos if she hearn tell that I
wuz a-playin' of cards she'd naturally everlastingly
bang me over the head," cautioned the landlord,
and the men cautiously climbed the stairs to a back
room. Abe, the boy of all work, brought up the

294

PRACTICAL JOKING. 295

rear of the procession, carrying a big jug of cider.

The landlord had no chips, but he produced a
peck measure of wooden buttons, such as women
used to cover and wear on their dresses for orna-
ment. Each man took a hundred of these for a
dollar, and the game began. It proceeded along
with much enjoyment until about 10 o'clock, when
one of the traveling men excused himself for a
moment but soon returned to the game, having his
pockets filled with just such wooden buttons as
were used for chips. These were put into the game
without the knowledge of the landlord. At the
close of the game he settled in full for every chip,
but when he came to brush the buttons back into
the peck measure he found that he had more than
enough to fill it.

He regarded the measure for a minute with won-
der and then he said, scratching his head : ''Gripes,
but that durn measure must have shrinked like the
devil."

The traveling men engaged in an argument over
the mystery, but did not elucidate it until their next
visit, and then they paid the landlord about two
dollars and called it square.

Here is another tale of how a man was skinned
in a friendly way. To correctly tell the tale it is
necessary to first state that the game occurred in
a barber shop which was situated on the second
floor of a prominent building in a small city.

296 JACK POTS.

The barber, who was the proprietor of the shop,
was the banker, and to identify him his name shall
be Dan. Others in the g'ame were a young lawyer
whose first name w^as Sidney, a traveling man
known as Frank and a young society man whose
Christian name was Harold. These four gathered
at the tonsorial parlors at the time vulgarly known
as the shank of the evening. A small round table
was pulled out from a back room, the curtains were
pulled down and the lights turned up and the game
began.

About the time everybody had got his toes warm
the banker realized that he was up against it, and
he was starting in to cuss his luck when a feeble
tap was heard at the door. This was the private
signal, but the players supposed that they were, the
only ones in possession of it. It must be the police
and horrid visions of a night behind the bars filled
their minds.

Quietly the cards were hidden, the table shoved
to one side, and all the participants were busily
engaged reading newspapers or books when Dan
went to the door. The outsider was a well-known
character about town, known as Doc, because he
was a dentist. He also had the reputation of being
a man that knew everything that was going on.
He could always tell where everyone was and
seemed to know everyone's business. On this
occasion he explained that he just happened to

• PRACTICAL JOKIXG. 297

think that the boys might be playing poker, and
he was just dying to take a hand in the game.
Incidentally he mentioned that he had a roll of bills
in his pocket that he didn't mind losing provided
there was a man in the room clever enough to take
it from him.

They made a place for the intruder with no very
good grace. This feeling rather increased after
nine or ten hands, when no one seemed to get so
much as a peek at Doc's bank roll. On the con-
trary, everything was traveling his way with mad-
dening regularity. Harold in particular was
worked up over this state of affairs, and while he
was sitting there like a dead man passing out his
chips and never taking one in he conceived the
idea of working a little joke on Doc and also get-
ting even.

Calling Dan into the back room on some flimsy
excuse he advised him of his scheme and how work
was to be started to put it into execution. Then
Dan took Sidney to one side and quietly told him
of the plan and the part he was to play in it. Frank
kept up his end by getting into an interesting col-
loquy with Doc over the latest scandal in high
life, and there is always at least one in a small
town.

The arrangements having been perfected, all sat
down again to the game. The cards w^ere dealt,
the betting went on and the demon dentist again

2gB

JACK POTS.

swept the table of all the little red, white and blue
representations of money.

''Let's make the next one a jack pot," said Har-
old.

"All right," responded Doc, carelessly. ''I can
win a little quicker in jacks."

Dan, to whom fell the deal, made ready and shuf-
fled the cards.
Frank cut
them, and Dan
was just about
to distribute
the pasteboards
when Sidney
uttered a low
moan as if
gasping for
breath and fell backward ofT
his chair, apparently striking
heavily on the floor. In-
stantly everyone was on his
feet, hurrying to the aid of
the supposedly injured man. That is, everyone ex-
cept Dan, who lingered long enough to substitute
a cold deck of cards for those in use.

Then he joined in with the others, and between
them they had Sidney on a lounge, rubbed his
hands and gave him a drink of water. He rapidly
revived, and explained that he had been subject to

Dan lingered long enough to

substitute a cold deck

of cards.

PRACTICAL JOKING. 299

these attacks for a year past, but he had been as-
sured by his physician that they were not danger-
ous, and that he was perfectly able to continue
playing.

So he sat dow^n to the table, the cards were dealt
and the conspirators kicked each other as they saw
a smile of pleasure spread over the face of the in-
tended victim.

'Til open it," said Doc promptly, as he shoved
a stack of ten chips on the table.

Fr^nk and Sidney scrutinized their hands and
announced that the pace was too hot for them.
Harold added five to Doc's ten and Dan went five
better. Doc tried to look as if he were surprised,
and simply saw the raises. \Mien it came to the
draw he hummed and hawed for a while and then
concluded he would take one card. Harold took
one card and Dan two.

It being Doc's first bet he bet five chips as a
feeler. Harold raised it five and Dan raised him.
Doc smiled in a satisfied way and lifted it up about
twenty. To his surprise he was lifted as much in
return. Then there was an epidemic of raising;
everyone seemed furiously certain of their hand,
and no one would call. Frank and Sidney looked
on and seemed paralyzed with wonderment.

Dan, being the banker, had plenty of chips w^ith
which he and Harold covered all of Doc's good
money and in the end Doc's money ran out and he

300 JACK POTS.

had to call. This being agreeable to the other
players Dan laid down a pair of queens and three
tens.

*'Was that what you were betting on?" inquired
Doc. ''That hand looks like a foot. I haven't
got much here; only two little aces, with two more
to keep them company."

Then he smiled a broad smile as he made prep-
arations to gather in the big pile of money and
chips. But he forgot that Harold was still to be
heard from.

''Carefully, Doc," said the society leader. "Drop
that or you might break it. Your aces are not so
warm in this game."

"You don't mean" stammered Doc.

"That I can beat them? Take a look at these."

Doc gazed at the straight flush spread out be-
fore him and then at the agonizing spectacle of
Harold calmly raking in the pot, and then he arose
and left the room without uttering a word. The
next day his money was returned to him and he
was informed that he had been skinned. And he
never heard the last of it.

Baseball men are famous poker players, and very
naturally so. Although we occasionally hear a wail
about the way the "magnates" oppress the poor
players, buy and sell them, and otherwise woe-
fully put on them, it is noticed that they do not go
out of the business until they are knocked out.

PRACTICAL JOKING. 301

The truth is that they are the best paid class of
men in any business, making more in a season of
six month than the average professional man does
in a year. Then again, their work is play; some-
thing that they would do for fun if no one hired
them to do it. They travel in first-class cars, put
up at first-class hotels, play only when the weather
is fine, and a day's work for them is less than four
hours.

\\'ith these advantages it is no wonder that they
are inclined to be sportive and wile away their off
hours with cards. At the same time it is not to
be inferred that they are high rollers; there is no
case on record where a ball player has got his
name in the papers for making a gigantic winning.
It is all between themselves and at the end of the
season no player's bank roll is very much depleted.
When an outsider gets into their game he is apt to
have a peculiar tale to tell.

"When I started out as a baseball correspondent
in — never mind the year," said the sporting editor,
'T considered myself as smart as any young man
could be. I was personally acquainted with all the
players and was admitted to their confidences, con-
sequently I thought I was the whole thing. .

"When we arrived at the first city where the club
was scheduled to play it rained and the game was
declared off. Time weighed heavily and a game
of poker was suggested. Of course I had to be in

302 JACK POTS.

It. just to show that I was sporty. There were six
in the party beside myself, all finished players, but
I happened to be in luck, and as a man will do
in such circumstances I ascribed it all to my skill
and forced the play.

''Finally a nice jack pot was on the board and
the first man that had a say opened it. I looked at
my hand and saw a combination of cards that ordi-
narily would be thrown into the deck. But I made
up my mind to make a star play, and immediately
boosted the pot. The others stayed, but when it
came to drawing cards I stood pat. The opener
bet and I raised with an air of confidence that
threw the others ofT and they dropped. The
opener had not bettered his hand and he also quit.

"Everything would have been all right had I
simply thrown my hand into the pot, but I was so
delighted at having bluffed so clever a lot that I laid
the cards face upwards on the table, at the same
time giving one of those idiotic chuckles that a
youngster w^ll when he thinks he has fooled men
older and more clever than himself. I saw an ex-
change of glances go around that I mistook for
admiration, but which I afterward learned was a
silent comment on my freshness.

''Nothing further transpired at the game and I
quit a winner. A few days later we reached Cin-
cinnati for the Fourth of July games, and being a
day ahead of time, a game was arranged with a

PRACTICAL JOKING. 303

local club in a near-by town. We started early in
the morning, there being a dozen in the party, in-
cluding the manager and myself. We were in the
smoker, and as soon as the train started the boys
began skylarking, much to the edification of the
other passengers, who were mostly country folk.

**I was enjoying the fun immensely when sud-
denly I found myself in the hands of a half dozen
players, and in a twinkling almost they had
stripped me of all my outer garments. Here was
a pleasant predicament for a fashionable young
man ! I had a light overcoat with me, and with
that I covered myself as best I could, but to get up
and look for my clothes in that attire was more
than I had the courage to do. I called appealingly
to the manager but he was at the other end of the
coach and apparently deeply engrossed in a news-
paper. When the conductor came along he simply
gave me the laugh and passed by.

'Then a chorus came from the players: 'Why
don't you bluff it out ?' Then I realized why I was
getting the dose.

''I rode for about fifteen minutes in that shape
and then my clothes were suddenly dumped on
me, all nicely tied into knots. I had a great deal
of trouble in getting them on, but I took it all
good naturedly, for what else could I do? But
they had not finished with me yet.

"When we reached our destination it lacked an

304

JACK POTS.

hour before dinner and some of the players went
driving, while the rest lounged around the hotel.
Presently one of the players returned riding a nag
of the coach variety, apparently about as docile as
a cow. The rider announced that he was tired
already of such a hard riding beast (I learned after-

*' He must have been a circus horse at one time."

ward that he was a splendid horseman) and in-
vited me to take his place.

"I wasn't much of a rider, but to show that I
bore no hard feelings for the morning's perform-
ance, I mounted the horse, and instantly some one
gave him a thundering slap, and away he went.
He must have been a circus horse at one period
because I never saw one carry on the way he did.
He appeared to go most of the time only on one

PRACTICAL JOKING. 305

leg, and I was almost shaken to pieces. I finally
got him into a walk, and was thinking of return-
ing to the hotel when a buggy was driven up rap-
idly behind me and I heard the swish of a whip as it
fell on my horse's haunches. He was ofif like a shot
and I held on with all fours. The buggy kept up
with me however and the whip continued to fall.
1 had just time to look around and see the laughing
faces of two of the players when my horse swerved
into a side road and the buggy passed on.

"Well, I finally got the infernal animal under
control again, and rode him back to the hotel,
but I was so sore that I could not sit down to
dinner with any degree of comfort. The boys did
not ask me anything about my adventures, but
they talked a great deal about card playing, and
how a player who could carry through a grand
bluff was sure to beat the game. I didn't join in
the conversation, but I smiled an occasional sickly
smile to show that I bore no malice.

''The final chapter in the hazing, for such it was,
came a week later. We were in St. Louis, and
after the first game, I went with about four of the
boys to a variety theatre. Among the performers
was a singer who styled herself La Belle Clarisse,
or something like that, who had fluffy hair, and
looked very attractive in the glare of the footlights.
We applauded her enthusiastically, thereby attract-
ing her attention and she smiled sweetly on us.

3o6 JACK POTS.

"One of the boys professed to know her, at any
rate he sent her a note by the waiter, and after the
show she came to our table. The Hghts had been
turned down by that time and she looked and
talked charmingly. An invitation was extended to
her to witness the next day's game, and I was de-
lighted w^hen I was designated as her escort. In
my verdancy I congratulated myself at being thus
honored, and pictured myself creating a furore
w^hen I escorted that beautiful being to the ball
grounds and past the envious multitude.

''But I was grievously disenchanted when I went
to her boarding house next day and saw La Belle.
The bright sunlight was different from the foot-
lights and she appeared to have aged about twenty-
five years since the night before. Her fluffy hair
was gone and her face was seamed and sallow, and
there was also a tough look about her mouth that
I had not previously noticed. But there was no
chance to back out. There she was all togged out,
so gay that you could see her a mile off, and I had
to take her.

"Oh, how I suffered ! Instead of creating a
furore I attracted attention of another kind.
Everybody looked at us, to be sure, but not in the
way I fancied. The few acquaintances I had made
ignored me, and I would have been isolated if it
had not been for the players. They did not forget
me. They took every opportunity of grouping in

PRACTICAL JOKING. 307

front of the stand where we sat and grinning at
us in a way that focused all eyes in our vicinity.
I sat the game through, but I had alternate cold
chills and hot sweats all the time, and after I had
escorted La Belle home, I made a solemn vow
never to be fresh again. The players evidently
thought that I had been properly educated, for
they let up on me thereafter. Another result of my
experience was that I never bluffed in a poker
game afterwards — that is, I never let any one
know that I did."

CHAPTER XXII.

CROOKED GAMBLING AN EXPERT EXPLAINS THE

MYSTERIES OF SECOND CARD, PAPER MEN
AND HOLD OUTS.

There is no pleasure at all in playing poker un-
less it is on the square. If a man in addition to
bending all his mind to the proper playing of his
hand has also to watch his opponent to see that
he does not cheat, he may win a little money at the
game but he certainly cannot extract much fun
from the pastime. Fortunately for the popularity
of the game it is not easy to cheat at poker.
Doubtless there are a number of players who have
the incHnation but they lack the skill. To stack a
pack or even slip a card requires sleight of hand
that cannot be mastered without years of practice,
and it will not do to cheat unless it can be done
without detection. No amateur player cares to
be thrown out of a window or booted down the
stairs.

The amateur player who would cheat if he could
illustrates his weakness by the way he tries to put
up the cards. \Mien he is out of a deal, he will
gather together the discard and sort out the aces,
kings or other high cards, and bunch them, so that
if the cards are not well shuffled on the next deal

308

CROOKED GAMBLING. 309

there is a chance of catching three of a kind on
the draw. He watches the shuffle and cut very
closely, and regulates his draw by what he can re-
member of the position of the cards, and if the
cards are given him to cut, he cuts them light or
deep so as to give him the best chance of getting
the stacked cards.

These and a number of other little devices which
are familiar to poker players, are not exactly cheat-
ing, but they are efforts to gain some advantage
over the other players, independent of the natural
run of the cards. It is pleasant to record that the
players who resort to such tricks are not remark-
able for their winnings. Their calculations fre-
quently go wrong and then they come to grief in
a way that is a source of merriment to the men who
are content to play the game strictly on its merits.

It would be an interesting sight to run some of
these fellows up against a professional card sharp,
and see how they would get skinned.^ Their money
would not be worth two cents on the dollar, be-
cause the professional leaves nothing to chance.

Professional gamblers may have a home but
they do not stay there. They are continually trav-
eling from place to place, continually looking for a
game. They work a town for a week or maybe a
month, and then, when the atmosphere begins to
be lurid they move on. That gives an opening for
another professional to work the town, with a dif-

3IO JACK POTS.

ferent kind of game. There is a sucker born every
minute.

Professionals usually travel in pairs, under the
guise of legitimate business agents or as wealthy
pleasure seekers. They have letters of introduction
from prominent people — bogus, of course — and as
a result they are introduced into fashionable clubs,
and subsequently into the game. Unlike amateurs,
who are prone to brag of their winnings, the pro-
fessional will try to hide his gains, and very often
will claim to be loser when, in reality he has won
many dollars.

There are a hundred ways of cheating, mechan-
ical and otherwise, but the most of them cannot be
used successfully except in a room and on a table
fitted up for that purpose, and these are found only
hi crooked gambling joints. The most skillful
gamblers rely on the dexterity of their fingers, and
carry no appHances that might come to light un-
expectedly and put them in a very awkward plight.
Some are known as ''paper men" others as "hold
outs," while more are called ''second dealers."
They all, of course, have a general knowledge of
the various methods of cheating, but they excel, as
a rule, in some one of these systems. A retired
gambler, who, in his day was the most skilled "sec-
ond dealer" in the country, explains these methods
very entertainingly.

"It took me more than four years of hard prac-

CROOKED GAMBLING. 3^1

tice to learn how to deal seconds properly. A 'sec-
ond dealer' is a man who can deal cards from any
part of the pack without detection, so that, prev-
ious to the players drawing cards he skilfully slips
his thumb along the bottom of the pack and
catches a glimpse of the cards to be dealt. If he
sees anything he needs he can deal it to himself
as easily as if it were on the top of the pack. If
he has a partner he will know by signs just exactly
what he wants, and if he can't give it to him he
will motion to him to stay out.

'*If his partner has a pair he will look through
the pack, and if he observes the other pair of the
same he will make a sign to his partner, who will
thereupon raise the price to draw cards. As a rule,
partners sit together when they play, so that one
can cut to the other's liking, and this is in itself
a science, for the man cutting the cards will do it
to the satisfaction of the whole board, as he ap-
parently mixes them up, while in reality he does
not disturb his partner's prearranged cards.

*'In this instance the man who cuts the cards
would naturally be the last to get cards, and his
partner has an easy thing giving him what he
wants. When he is first to get cards, it is different.
It is rather difficult to pull two cards from difTerent
parts of the pack, and then all eyes are watching
the dealer when he is giving out the first cards.
So, while holding the pack in his left hand just be-

312 JACK POTS.

fore starting to deal to those drawing, he will find
some pretext for reaching his right hand across the
table, and in this manner he will momentarily hide
the deck. In fhat instant he will shift with his
fingers one of the cards his partner needs to the
top of the pack. He will repeat this movement
the same as before, and bring the other card on
top. His partner will draw three cards and will,
of course, get four of a kind."

The gambler then showed how he could bring
cards from the center to the top of the pack. Hold-
ing the pack in his left hand as if about to deal,
he would shove his forefinger between the deck
and right above the card he was to bring on top.
He would then raise his forefinger, thereby lifting
the cards above it, and then with the middle finger
he would slide the wanted card out about half an
inch toward his fingers. Then he would press down
on the card and in this manner raise it outside the
pack. He would then remove his forefinger,
thereby allowing the cards to fall back again. The
needed card would be standing on its side outside
the pack, and it would then be an easy matter to
shift it on top of the pack. In fact, the whole
operation looked easy enough until tried, and then
it became very difficult.

'Taper men," explained this expert, "are men
who make a specialty of reading cards. They have
a system of marking the backs of cards so that

CROOKED GAMBLING. 313

they can tell all the aces, kings, queens, jacks, and
eventually the whole pack, if it is used long enough.
This knowledge of course gives them a tremen-
dous advantage, especially in a two handed game,
for they can tell just what the other player has by
looking at the backs of his cards.

'Til never forget the first time I had an expe-
rience with a paper man. I was in a Denver saloon
one day, and a fat stranger with whom I had
struck up an acquaintance suggested a game of
poker. I accepted the proposition with pleasure,
and we retired to an ante room for the sport. Be-
fore we had been playing very long I discovered
that my friend w^as using a pack of readers. I had
given him a few good hands, but he wouldn't play,
for of course he could see that I had a better hand,
so I made up my mind to fool him.

''It finally came to my deal w^hen there was a
pretty good jack pot. I had lost a little money
and I now set about getting it back with interest.
So I stacked my fat friend three aces and gave
myself three kings. After I had given out the two
hands I laid down the deck, and the top card was
an ace. Directly under the ace I had a five of
clubs and the six of clubs and a king under that.

"When the fellow saw the ace on top he smiled,
for he knew that he had four aces sure. He opened
the pot for a small amount and I gave it a lift. He
came back at me with another raise, and we kept

314 JACK POTS.

it up, until he finally said that he had only a little
money left to bet with, for he wanted some fun
after the draw. I guess he thought I must be soft
with my poor kings up against his three and as
good as four aces.

"Well, he drew one and I gave him the five of
clubs. I took two myself, taking my king and his
ace. As I ex2ected, he drew in the card without
looking at it, shoved it under his other four, and
then said, with a broad smile: ''Now, I'll bet all
I have," and he threw out the few remaining dol-
lars he had. I covered it, and called him.

" 'I have four aces,' he replied, as he turned up
his hand, and then when he saw the cards he ut-
tered an awful oath, and shouted: 'Well, I'll be
damned if they didn't change right before my
very eyes !'

" 'I know they did,' I said, as I pocketed the
coin, 'and your paper isn't worth two cents a pound
playing with me ;' and I left the place $500 richer
for that transaction.

"Paper men have many ways of marking cards.
Some of them carry a small machine which is at-
tached to their finger and resembles a ring, and
with this they cut the backs of the cards near the
corners, so that when dealing they always have
an advantage.

"Hold out men are men who when playing con-
ceal cards in the palm of their hand. They do this

CROOKED GAMBLING. 3^5

very cleverly, sometimes dealing and handling the
pack while palming a half dozen cards, and they
can get rid of them without detection. Even if you
have your eyes on the man it is hard to see any-
thing crooked. For instance one of these fellows
will hold four of a kind in his hand until it comes
his age. Not always four aces, in fact, very rarely
anything higher than tens, because high cards are
more apt to excite suspicion. After the dealer has
given out cards and laid down the deck, the hold
out man will put his hand down on the deck,
thereby putting his four tens on top, and say, 'Wait
a while; this should have been my deal.' This is
merely an excuse for his action in putting the cards
on top. After a little dispute he will draw four
cards, and as he is the first to draw he will get the
four tens. Of course he can't play that trick more
than twice at least in the evening, so he must se-
lect some time when there is a big pot, and that
isn't always possible. That is why the second card
and the paper man have an advantage over the hold
out man."

It not only requires skill to perform these tricks,
but to use them as a gambler a man must possess
an iron nerve and never get rattled. Some magi-
cians are very clever with cards, in fact more so
than any gambler, but they can*t play poker with a
crooked card player. No man could handle cards
Vvith the dexterity of Hermann but he was a regu-

3i6 JACK POTS.

lar loser at poker. Of course there is another side
to this. Hermann did not try to cheat while play-
ing poker. If he or any other expert would de-
liberately use his wonderful skill to cheat at cards
does any one doubt that he could not defeat any
crooked player? I would hate to stake the crook
against him.

CHAPTER XXIII.

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER THE ONE-EYED MAN ORIGIN

OF THE LOOLOO — FOUR KINGS AS BANK COLLATERAL
JAY GOULD AS A PHILANTHROPIST.

Around such an old and venerable institution as
poker there has necessarily grown up a crop of
classic stories, passed down from year to year,
changing their location perhaps but preserving
their main features, and losing nothing of their
attractiveness from age. You may or may not
have heard them before ; if they are new to you, so
much the better; if old friends they will be wel-
comed heartily. They run the gamut from grave
to gay, from lively to severe, although in this col-
lection we will omit the grave and the severe.

In the way of sarcasm where can we find a nicer
bit than in the story of the gambler who was in-
dicted for running a game of chance, and triumph-
antly acquitted on the plea of his counsel that the
players who bucked against his bank didn't have
any chance? This little bit should be highly ap-
preciated by some of the venturesome visitors to
the Chicago World's Fair who explored Clark
Street.

A variant myth is equally apt and pithy. A
poker player was hauled up before a justice on the
charge of gambling.

317

3i8

JACK POTS.

"So you were playing cards for money?" said

the magistrate, severely.

''No, sir; we were playing for chips."

''It's all the same thing. You got your chips

cashed for money at the end of the game, I sup-

pose

"You're
said

No, sir."

'No! How's that?" "At the end of the

game I didn't have any
chip^, your honor."

discharged,"
the judge,
and he snapped it
out so quick that
the constable
turned pale.

In Montana to
assume that the
judge is ignorant
of any of the
niceties of poker
is to be fined for
contempt of

"You're discharged," said the Judge. COUrt.

A lawyer de-
fending a prisoner charged with swindling ex-
plained : "Your honor, one of the witnesses alleges
that my client rung in a cold deck on him. A cold
deck, your honor, it may be necessary to explain,
IS a

# CLASSIC TALES OF POKER. 319

"The assumption," said the judge, severely,
"that the court doesn't know what a cold deck is,
Mr. Sharp, is an impertinence that will subject you
to a fine if persisted in. Proceed with your argu-
ment."

The prevalence of poker in the West was once
demonstrated to the satisfaction of a traveler in
that region.

"Can we have a little two dollar limit up stairs?"
he asked of the hotel clerk.

"Certainly," answered the clerk, "only be quiet
about it."

"Of course; but how about the sheriff?"

"I don't know. Here, Front!" the clerk called
to the boy. "Run over to the sherifif' s of^ce and
ask him if he wants to take a hand in a small game
of draw."

No picture of western license can be more strik-
ing than the following, which is located in the rat-
tlesnake region of Arizona.

"I don't see the prisoner," said the judge, as he
waked up preparatory to sentencing the culprit.
"Where is he?"

"I'm blest if I know," said the sherifY, looking
under the benches. "Just lent him my paper of
fine cut, too."

"Was he a big red headed man with a scar on
his cheek?" asked the foreman, who was playing
poker with the rest of the jury.

320 JACK POTS.

''That's the cuss," said the clerk.

"Why, then," said the foreman, ''he asked me to
go out and take a drink with him about an hour
ago, but I showed him~ I had three sixes, and he
said, 'Well, next time then,' and walked out."

"The thunder you say!" roared his honor.
"However, he's sure to be in town next week to see
the dog fight, and some of you must remind the
sheriff to shoot him at sight. The docket is just
jammed full of horse stealing cases and there is
no time to waste over homicides."

A common saying, "There's a one-eyed man in
the game," meaning about the same as "look out
for a cheat," has its origin in a story that bears the
stamp of truth.

A little game of draw was in progress in Omaha,
and among its participants was a one-eyed man.
He was playing in rather remarkable luck, but no
one could very well find fault with that. Pres-
ently, however, there came a jack pot, and it was
the one-eyed man's deal. He opened the pot, and
while he was giving himself cards a certain belli-
cose gentleman named Jones thought he detected
the one-eyed man in the act of palming a card.
Quick as a flash, Jones whipped out a revolver and
placed it on the table beside him.

"Gentlemen," he said, decisively, "we ^ill have
a fresh deal ; this one doesn't go."

The players were surprised, but as none of them

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER. 321

had bettered his hand save the opener, who made
no sign of disapproval, they wilHngly consented.

"And now that we start on a new deal," pursued
Mr. Jones, carelessly toying with the revolver, "let
me announce that we are going to have nothing
but square deals. I am not making any insinua-
tions or bringing any charges, and I will say only
this, that if I catch any son-of-a-gun cheating I will
shoot out his other eye."

History affirms that from that time henceforth
that game was the squarest on record.

A well known sporting man tells this story and
swears to it.

"Half a dozen of us were playing a stiff game.
A well known lawyer, known as the Colonel, hap-
pened into the room, and though he was some-
what the Worse for drink he insisted on taking a
hand. A hundred dollars worth of chips were
handed out to him and the game recommenced.
Only a few hands had been dealt when the Col-
onel's head sank softly down on his vest and his
eyelids closed. He was fast asleep.

"On the next hand — a jack pot — one of the
players opened on an ace flush. No one came in
and he was about to rake in the pot, when he no-
ticed that the Colonel had not had his say. He
reached across the table and gave the sleeping
warrior a dig in the ribs.

" 'Wake up,' he cried. 'Wake up and play your
hand.'

322 JACK POTS.

" 'Wha's ma'r?' asked the Colonel, wearily.

'' 'Pot is opened for five dollars. Everybody else
is out. Is it my pot?'

''The Colonel roused up, picked up his hand in
a jumbled careless fashion and sleepily slid ten dol-
lars into the pot.

'' 'It's only five dollars to come in,' said the
other, with the jubilant light of hope in his eyes.
*Do you raise ?'

" 'Oh, five dollars, is it? Well, never mind, let
her go at that. Raise.'

''Then the gentleman with the flush raised again.
So did the Colonel. Finally every dollar each
player had, went to swell the prodigiously big pot.
The boys hated to see the Colonel throwing away
his money in that maudlin way, but they couldn't
interfere.

" 'How many cards?' said the dealer. The fists
of the two men hit the table with resounding
thumps, as a signal that both had pat hands. It
was a show-down then. The drowsy Colonel
spread out on the table a queen full. The boys
shoved him the pot, and he was too drunk to reach
for it. The laugh was on the other player, although
he did not have much laugh left in him. He said,
however, that it was the first time he had ever
wakened a man to make him play his hand and
it would be his last."

The story of the origin of the looloo has all the

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER. 323

elements of immortality. Every poker player
should know it and every poker player who has
heard it will enjoy reading it once more. So here
it is :

The locale is a gambling saloon in Butte. A
tenderfoot had announced his intention of reliev-
ing a few of the miners of what spare change they
had left after assuaging their thirst. Without
much trouble he found a victim who was willing to
try a hand or two at poker.

Luck favored the stranger and he won the ma-
jority of the pots. Finally he drew four aces, and
after the stakes had been run up to a very com-
fortable figure, he magnanimously refused to bet
further.

''This is downright robbery," he said, pleasantly,
"and I don't want to bankrupt you so early. So
here goes." He threw down his cards and reached
out for the money.

"Hold on," said his antagonist. "I'll take care
of the dust if you please."

"But I hold four aces — see?"

"Well, what of it? I have a looloo."

"A— what?"

"A looloo ; three clubs and two diamonds."

The stranger was dazed. "A looloo?" he re-
peated. "Well, what is a looloo anyhow?"

"Three clubs and two diamonds," cooly repeated
the miner. "Guess you ain't accustomed to our
poker rules out here. See there?"

324 JACK POTS.

As he spoke he jerked his thumb over his shoul-
der toward a pasteboard card which hung on the
wall back of the bar. It read:

A LOOLOO

BEATS FOUR ACES.

The game proceeded but it was plainly evident
that the unsophisticated young gamester had
something on his mind. Within five minutes he
suddenly braced up and his face was wreathed in
smiles. Then he began betting with his former
vigor and recklessness. In fact he staked his last
dollar on his hand.

Just at this juncture the barkeeper stopped in
the midst of manipulating a cocktail, and hung up
another card behind the bar and above the dazzling
array of glasses and bottles.

The young man threw down his hand with an
exultant whoop. "It's my time to howl just
about now !" he cried, as he reached for the money.
"There's a looloo for you^ — three clubs and two
diamonds."

"Pshaw!" exclaimed the miner. "Really, this is
too bad. You don't understand our rules at all.
You certainly don't mean to tell me that you play

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER. 325

poker in such a slip shod way down East, do you ?
Why, look at that rule over there."

He pointed over the head of the busy barkeeper.
The unfortunate young man read his doom in the
handwriting on the wall. The bit of pasteboard
bore this legend:

THE LOOLOO

CAN BE

PLAYED

BUT ONCE A NIGHT.

They say it was a Chicago man who was thus
introduced to this awful innovation. He raised
money to take him home, and got even on his dear
friends, but the secret soon got out, and the loo-
loo now goes in Chicago right along.

Of course a subject so prolific in possibilities has
not escaped the attention of the funny man, and
in his efiforts of the imagination he has spared
neither age nor position in life. Even the clergy
have not escaped.

There is the story of the gentleman who had in-
advertently slipped a blue chip into the contribu-
tion box, and called upon hie pastor next day with

326 JACK POTS.

an apology for his carelessness, and proffered a
silver dollar in place of the chip.

"Ah, yes," said the divine. "Let me see. You
belong to the Lake Shore Club, I believe?"

"I do," replied the gentleman, promptly.

"Then," returned the clergyman, decidedly, "a.
dollar is not enough. A blue chip is worth five
dollars in your game."

Perhaps it was the same minister who remarked
from the pulpit, while examining the contents of
the contribution box:

*T regret to say that the heathen have not yet
arrived at that point of civilization where they will
derive any benefit from poker chips, but if the gen-
tlemen who contributed these tokens will step
around to the vestry after services, they may re-
deem them; otherwise I will keep them until the
heathen can be instructed."

An Oklahoma preacher was even more shrewd.

"The collection will now be taken," he said, "and
I take this opportunity to remark that poker chips
don't go any more. Get them cashed before you
come and bring the money. I am forced to this
decision by the fact that some of the brethren have
been shoving off chips of their own manufacture
and letting the laugh be on us when we went to
get them cashed at the Dewdrop Fortune Parlors."

A still more alarming state of affairs is revealed
'•^ the protest which the Rev. Lettus Hitemhard
lelt consiramea to make lo his congregation.

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER. 327

"My friends," said he, earnestly, ''the extent to
which gambling has been carried on in our town is
alarming. From my study I can look across the
street into a clubroom, where night after night
young men gather to play cards. Last night I
saw a sight that made my blood run cold. There
at a table sat four young men playing poker — for
money! Yes, for money. I don't wonder that
you shudder, brethren. Large stacks of money
were before them, and would you believe it, I ac-
tually saw one young man, who ought to have
known better, bet ten blue chips on a pair of
kings !"

The razor and the negro are supposed to be in-
separable companions, so in this class of poker
tales you naturally expect to run across a razor.
As for example, in this dialogue :

"Did you have a citing game last night?"

"On'y played one hand."

"Festivities rather short, hey? What break 'em
up?"

"Dar was seben dollahs on de table an' I had
three kings."

"Berry good foh a stahter."

"An' Mistah Jinkins held up cards."

'Tromisin'."

"She'. An' I drew annuda king."

''An' won de pot?"

"No."

328

JACK POTS.

''Why, what did Jinkins draw?"
"Er razor."

The following story is told about the late la-
mented King Kalakaua, who when he ruled the
Sandwich Islands was a really good fellow, if his
skin was dark. It is also told about the famous

Tom Corwin, the
Southern states-
man of ante hel-
ium days. . Cor-
win had a very
dark complexion,
and it is told of
him that he once
attended a ball
given in Wash-
ington by a very
exclusive mulatto
set. He was in
company with an-
other Southern-
er also of a
sallow hue, and as they presented their tickets at
the door, they were halted by the doorkeeper.

''Excuse me," said that functionary. "Your
friend may enter, but, pardon me — you are a shade
too dark."

However, Paul Newman, who was Attorney-
General for Kalakaua, declares that the King was

'Excuse me," said that functionary « * * "you
are a shade too dark."

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER 329

the hero of this story. He says that the king was
an ardent poker player but not a high roller, as
generally believed.

One night Newman, the King and two others
were having a friendly set-to when a revolution
broke out. Matters were getting interesting —
around the poker table — w^hen a messenger came
running in to announce that the rioters were on
their way to sack the royal palace. It was decided
to go home directly after the jack pot, conse-
quently the betting was fast and furious. As the
King placed his last bet on the board the report of
guns was heard.

*'Run for your lives!" cried Kalakaua.

The party started to run, but before they got
under way, the King showed his hand and raked
in the pot. The party was so nervous that they did
not notice the cards closely, so the King, who had
three jacks, rung in a photo of himself as the fourth
jack. After the riot had been suppressed, the trick
was discovered, but as Kalakaua had been a steady
loser all summer, it was not considered good form
to kick.

When ex-Senator Thomas Fitch lived in Vir-
ginia City, Nevada, he was unquestionably the fin-
est orator on the Pacific slope, and the best
equipped lawyer, with the possible exception of the
supreme judge, Stephen J- Field. Tom was the
idol of every mining camp in those parts where he

330 JACK POTS.

was widely known. One of his failings, however,
was his carelessness in money matters and his in-
trepidity in incurring debts. He also had a weak-
ness for cards and never missed an opportunity of
getting into a game.

One Sunday morning in 1874, Jim Merry^ a well
known sporting man of Virginia City, rose with
the sun and was ambling down K Street for his
cocktail, when he met Tom Fitch.

"Good morning. Senator," greeted Merry, ''and
what brings you out so early ?"

"I've been up all night in a game," answered
Fitch, with some acerbity.

"Well, how did you come out?" queried Merry.

"Lost $2,530," replied the senator.

"That's too bad. Senator," said Merry, commis-
eratingly. "You must have played in bad luck."

"So I did," said Fitch. "And the worst of it is
that thirty dollars of it was in cash money."

Of course the following incident happened in the
breezy West, and it bears all the earmarks of sacred
truth, which always makes a story much more en«
joyable.

One morning the janitor of the bank opened the
door and was surprised to see three rather tired
looking men sitting on the steps, the center one of
whom held a sealed envelope carefully in sight of
his companions. A few minutes later the cashier
of the bank arrived and they followed him into
the building.

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER. 33^

*'Good morning, gentlemen," he said, pleasantly.
''Want to make a deposit?"

"No ; I want to negotiate a loan," said the man
with the envelope, "and there ain't a minute to lose.
I want five thousand dollars quicker than Hades
can scorch a feather."

"What collateral have you to offer? Govern-
ments or commercial paper?" inquired the bank
ofBcial.

"Governments nothing!" exclaimed the man.
"Fve got something that beats four per cents all
hollow. You see, I've been sitting in a poker game
across the street, and there's more than five thou-
sand dollars in the pot. There are three or four
pretty strong hands out, and as I've every cent in
the center the boys have given me thirty minutes
to raise a stake on my hand. It's in this envelope.
Just look at it, but don't give it away to these gen-
tlemen. They are in the game, and came along to
see that I don't monkey with the cards."

"But, my dear sir," said the cashier, who had
quietly opened the envelope and found* it to con-
tain four kings and an ace, "this is entirely irregu-
lar. We do not lend money on cards."

"But you ain't going to see me raised out on a
hand like this, are you?" whispered the poker
player, anxiously. "These fellows think I'm bluff-
ing, and I can just clean out the whole gang. You
see, we ain't playing straight flushes, so I've got
'em right in the door."

332 JACK POTS.

"Can't help it, sir; never heard of such a thing,"
said the cashier, severely, and the disappointed
applicant and his friends filed sadly out.

On the corner they met the president of the bank
who was himself just from an all night game. The
man explained the case again, and the next mo-
ment the superior officer darted into the bank,
seized a bundle of twenties and followed the trio.
• In about ten minutes he returned with the bundle
and an extra handful of twenties, which he flung
on the counter.

"Here, credit five hundred dollars to interest
account," he said to the cashier. ''Why, I thought
you had more business snap. Ever play poker?"

"No, sir."

''Ah, I thought not. If you had you would
know what good collateral was. Remember that
in future four kings and an ace, with straight
flushes barred, are always good in this institution
for our entire assets, sir — our entire assets."

The man who wins a lot of money from another
fellow and then gives it back with a sermon, has
appeared several times in print, and now he makes
his bow in the guise of no less a person than the
famous Jay Gould.

It was in Chicago about twenty years ago. He
happened to be at a hotel when a social game of
poker was in progress. One of the party was a
young man of about twenty-eight, who was plung-

CLASSIC TALES OF POKER. 333

ing recklessly. He was winning right along, rak-
ing in pot after pot, and punctuating every one
with a drink.

Mr. Gould was looking on, but making no com-
ment, and as it happened no one knew who he was.
Finally one of the party quit, and the others asked
Gould to take a hand. He declined. The game
went on, the players getting every minute more
reckless and drunker. The young plunger at
length said, sneeringly, to Gould, "Say, if you come
in, we'll make it ten cent limit."

Gould was stung by the sarcasm.

"Yes, I'll play," he said, quietly, "but you must
not alter your game. I have not played for years,
but I guess I can learn again."

The game started again, and the plunger opened
the pot for a thousand dollars. He chuckled as he
did so and fingered his winnings, which amounted
to nearly $8,000. The others dropped out, and
Gould raised it a thousand dollars.

"Two thousand better," shouted the reckless
better.

"Twenty thousand better," said Gould, taking a
roll of bills from his pocket and counting out that
amount.

The young man sank back in his chair, sobered
by the shock. Forcing a smile on his face, he said :

"I have only five thousand in cash. Can I have
a show down?"

334 JACK POTS.

"Yes," said Gould, grimly.

There was a show down, and you are prepared
to hear that Jay Gould had four aces. He always
held four aces in every game he played — railroads
or anything else. The broken young man arose
and staggered out of the room, with the prospect
of utter ruin staring him in the face.

As he was about to leave the hotel a waiter
stepped up to him and told him that a gentleman
wished to see him in his room.

''Young man," said Gould, when the young man
was brought into his presence. ''I learn that you oc-
cupy a responsible position in this city, and that
you have a young wife and a child, both probably
waiting for you at this moment. You have ruined
yourself, your wife and your little one for an hour^s
pleasure. It is quite evident that you are not fit
to own anything more than a twenty dollar bill, but
your wife must not suffer for you. Here," and
he handed him the money he had lost, "take this to
her, and ask her to take care of it for you."

As the young man went out, humiliated but
thankful, he stopped at the desk and found out
that his benefactor's name was Jay Gould. Now
that is the story and they do say that from that

day Jay Gould developed symptoms of that disease
which carried him off — enlargement of the heart.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE POETRY OF POKER DITTIES, WISE AND OTHER-
WISE, ABOUT THE GREAT NATIONAL GAME.

It is a very singular feature about poker that it
has no distinctive poetry to commemorate its
greatness. There must have been at least ten thou-
sand poems, big and little, written about war, while
poker has been sadly neglected, although men have
been known to get just as mad and excited over the
game — particularly when it was not running their
way — as any warrior who charged up San Juan
Hill. Horse racing has had its poets, and ''How
Salvator Won," is a classic. Baseball has been im-
mortalized in ''Casey at the Bat," and the football
poet has been heard in the land. Then why has
poker been neglected ? Where is the man who will
send his name thundering down the ages with an
epic poem on the great national game? Here is
an opportunity for some one to make fame and for-
tune. Meanwhile we must be content with odd bits
strewn here and there, of most of which the author-
ship is unknown.

The first that comes to my memory is a personal
couplet recited on many occasions by William
Reece, of St. Paul, Fargo, Bismarck and interme-
diate stations. It runs in this wise :

335

336 JACK POTS.

I'm Poker Bill, from Poker Hill.
I never quit, and I never will.

The idea conveyed is that Mr. Reece had de-
voted his life to the game of poker, and so he had.
To be sure he did quit at intervals for meals and
sleep, with occasional gaps when his exchequer
was exhausted (William's name not being as good
as his tin), but otherwise he was very faithful to
his motto.

This same Mr. Reece was not noted for his good
luck, and there were times when he became ab-
solutely melancholy over his poor success. To ren-
der the situation more trying he came into frequent
contact with gentlemen who had apparently no
dif^culty in filling flushes and helping pairs, and
it was to one of these favorites of fortune that Mr.
Reece dedicated the following lines:

He can put up the biggest bluff,

His gall has turned to liver;
And if he for a steamboat drew

He'd surely catch a river !

These two examples show true poetic instinct
and make us wish that Mr. Reece had turned his
attention to the muse, instead of wasting his time
drawing to deuces and bobtail flushes.

It must have been a gentleman similarly unfor-

THE POETRY OF POKER. 337

tunate who illustrated the varying fortunes of the
game with this chunk of wisdom ;

When a fellow's ahead of the game

He can either quit or stick ;
But when he's way deep in the hole

He can't do nothing but kick.

In all well regulated games of poker the loser
has the privilege of kicking. In Helena, Montana,
it used to be the custom when a gentleman had
vented his feelings over a specially hard or con-
tinuous run of bad luck to bid the barkeeper bring
in a barrel or a post so that he might kick to some
purpose. This w^as calculated to make the kicker
feel better.

It was quite a time out West before the old
veterans tolerated any of the modern innovations
in the noble game and it was this spirit that dic-
tated the forcible poetical remark here given:

The man who'd play the "joker"
In a friendly game of poker —

He be dam!

The only poet who has turned his attention to
poker and given us a book on it is Mr. George W.
Allen, of St. Louis. It is marred, however, by
the fact that it is not a poem in the strict sense of
the term, being rather a poker code, conveying in-

33^ JACK POTS.

struction in a rhyme. In fact, Mr. Allen closes his
work by giving a lot of plain, prosaic statistics
about bettering your hand. Poker players may re>
member having seen something of that sort; all
about how you ought to draw to this or that, and
when to stay in or stay out, and a lot more in the
same line that poker players pay no attention to
when they are actually locked in deadly comical
over the round table.

However, Mr. Allen evidently knows something
about poker, although he slips a cog once in a
while, which is not to be wondered at when we
consider the complexity of the theme.

"Let them rave over whist," melodiously chants
the poet as a preface to his rhymed essay:

Let them rave over whist,

And admit all they say —
There's a game that is better

For seven to play.

Why seven ? Whist is not played by seven per-
sons. Neither is poker, as a rule, unless the players
are willing to shufifle up the discard to draw cards,
and that is liable to lead to complications. Per-
haps there is something more poetic about seven
than four or five.

Having thus attuned his lyre, Mr. Allen sings in
a sweeter key of the chances of getting the various

THE POETRY OF POKER. 339

hands in the great and alluring game. Here is
what he savs about the *'draw," that fateful rite
upon which destiny hangs breathless.

Those who go in wdth hands the best
Will come out better than the rest

It's what they *'draw to" and have *'cold"
And not "all in the draw" as told.

Of course it is not ''all" in the draw, but Mr.
Allen is too rash when he makes the bold state-
ment that the man who goes in with the best hand
will come out in the same situation. Then what
would be the use of going in with a bobtail flush,
which, as it stands, is worth nothing at all? And
\vho has not elevated the^pot on two pair and been
beautifully flaxed by some one who stayed on a
measley pair of fours and caught the other one?
Go to, Mr. Allen !

Then he sings right along like a bird and de-
scribes the chances of the draw for various hands.

Drawing for flushes ought to pay
When five or six go in and stay ;

Or when there's any chance to win
Five times the cost of going in.

That's what you miight call playing them close to
your stomach. There may be men who can do it,
but they are few. It requires a strong constitu-

340 JACK POTS.

tion to resist the temptation to draw to a four
flush, with ace or king up, even if there is only one
other in the game. Still, that's business, no doubt.
Here is a verse on a mooted point, that has in its
meter the ring of sage experience.

With four flush and tens or under,

Break the pair — more chance for plunder.

With aces up, and threes to beat.
Draw three, if others don't compete.

Plunder? More chance for plunder? What sort
of cold blooded talk is this coming from a poet?
One is bound to suspect that the St. Louis rhyme-
ster is in the game for keeps, and not merely a
joyous delineator. No one would care to buck up
against a man who could write such cold and cruel
lines. And he is artful, too. Just listen :

When you have threes and the pot is small,
Then you draw one to fool them all ;

That you improve, is one to 'leven,
As fours make once in forty-seven.

There is more truth than poetry in that. But he
does not believe in this decoy draw except when
the pot is so little that one can afford to monkey
with it indifferently.

In the following our poet gets right down to
hard pan and friendship ceases.

THE POETRY OP POKER. 34^

Sometimes with threes you have more fun,
By holding up and drawing one;

But in big pots where all go in,

Draw two — you may need fours to win.

Got it down fine, hasn't he? Yet w^e have all
seen the time when a really terrific hand has been
made by holding up a side card, and it requires a
man of iron nerve to throw away a fat ace or a lusty
king when it accompanies three Uttle deuces or
treys. And then you don't get as good a play
when you draw two cards to threes, and thus give
your hand away, as if you can make the boys
think you are drawing to two pair.

But for real, downright duplicity just lend your
ear to this song of the serpent as he lays a snare for
his victim.

Sometimes it pays when naught you hold,
To play "pat" hands, and bet 'em bold.

Then others call — you win two-fold

When you have straights or flushes ''cold."

The man must be a perfect demon. Is it right to
play on the innocence of your friends in that way?
You w^iil notice that the poet intimates that when
he stands pat with nothing in his hand and gets
away with the stakes he is going to let the other
fellows see that he has bluffed them, so as to lure

Siflt

342 JACK POTS.

them on to ruin, when he subsequently holds a pat
flush or full. It is just as well that young players
should be w^arned against such frightful tricks,- so
that they will not burn up their good rnoney in
playing against poets.

On the very heels of this he comes out with a
lyric on a "dead blufif."

Most any pair, and little **sand,"

Will often beat a first rate hand.
Bluf^ng pays one hand in twenty,

Sometimes more when chips are plenty.

And so on, through all the varying features and
vicissitudes of the great national game, the poet
rides his Pegasus against and amidst chips, jack
pots, kitties and the like. Some of his advice
sounds worldly and unfeeling, but it is poetical, and
beginners must always bear in mind that the vast
majority of poker players do not sit down to the
table for the benefit of their health. Indeed, at
almost any friendly game, it appears at times as if
the players were out for the heart's blood of their
friends.

THE END.

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